


Carja Wedding

by queenofkadara



Series: The World and All Its Lessons: A Song of Aloy and Nil [5]
Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Aloy hates wedding planning, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Nil doesn't know what he's gotten himself into, Post-Canon, Smut, Wedding Fluff, Wedding Planning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-05 11:56:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 33,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12189531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofkadara/pseuds/queenofkadara
Summary: Nil asks Aloy to marry him. Shenanigans ensue.Predictably, this will be 100% fluff and some smut, with angst centered only around wedding-related stupidity.Direct sequel toStormbirds and StalkersandShadow of the Stormbird.





	1. Yes

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: As a bit of context here, IRL I’ve been engaged for almost a year and have done shit-all to start planning my wedding because I’m genuinely not interested. So this fic miiiiiight be something of a cathartic reflection on the problems/worries/hair-pulling insanity that arises around weddings… but obviously with an eventual happy ending, and all set in the context of our most beloved Niloy.

**A few months after the Tenakth battle…**

“I need more of this specific cable, with this type of end. Can you look for these?”

Nil examined the cable Suntress was holding up. It was blue, like a Banuk shaman’s cord, with a small strange-looking rectangular end. “All right,” he said easily, then stood from her side and meandered around the gloomy room in search of cables. 

They were at Maker’s End, digging around in the ruins for parts. Suntress was trying simultaneously to meet two goals: to establish a connection between her Focus and Nil’s, and to learn more about how to reactivate GAIA. They’d been here for about three days now, and Suntress had only left the dank rooms of the Ancient Ones’ bunker to sleep in their small tent just outside the ruins. Nil, on the other hand, had alternated between helping her and leaving the ruins to hunt straggling bandits and the occasional machine.

They’d reached a pleasant balance over the past few months of travel; he and Suntress would take turns deciding what to do, and if Suntress disagreed or had an urgent matter to attend to, Nil would leave her side to hunt, but he was unwilling to go farther than half a day’s ride away from her. As a consequence, even if they were apart during the days, they were inseparable every night. 

But recently, Nil had found that being inseparable wasn’t quite enough. A thought had started to preoccupy him, something Avad had said a few months back when he’d offered Nil a job as a military consultant: _will you and Aloy be formalizing your alliance?_ The thought had both thrilled and terrified him when Avad had first mentioned it, and then it had slipped his mind in the excitement of the Tenakth battle and all that glorious blood. But now that he and Suntress had returned to their normal life filled with death and discovery, Nil was finding his mind wandering back to the idea that Avad had planted in his mind: of marrying Suntress and officially tying himself to her forever. 

Nil hadn’t mentioned it to Suntress. It wasn’t because he was uncertain; he definitely wanted it. His hesitation was that he wasn’t sure how _she_ would react. Nil didn’t doubt her feelings or her commitment; he doubted whether she’d agree to the idea of a marriage. She was the most stubbornly independent person he’d ever known. Maybe she wouldn’t like the idea of being bound to him. Actually, now that Nil thought about it, he didn’t know if any of the Nora ever got married. Maybe it wasn’t a thing they did. Maybe they just went around having kids with no marriages. 

“Find anything?” Suntress called, and Nil snapped his thoughts back to the task at hand. He’d been staring vacantly at a calcified chair for about thirty seconds. “Err,” he replied, then looked around more carefully until he found two coiled cables that matched the one she’d shown him. 

He walked back over to her and handed her the cables. Suntress took them with a preoccupied smile of thanks, then continued working on the contraption on the ground in front of her. Nil had no idea what she was doing. It seemed… complicated. She’d tried to explain it, and Nil had tried to understand, but all he could retain was that it had to do with setting up a new network. 

Nil sat comfortably on the floor beside her and sipped some Scrappersap from his golden flask while Suntress muttered to herself. “...connect this to the Tallneck… but how far can the signal spread? No idea where Sylens was when he contacted me. Bloody unhelpful mysterious slag…” 

Nil smirked slightly and leaned back on one hand as he watched her work. Her brows were furrowed and her lips slightly pouted in concentration as she connected and disconnected the cables in her device, then scanned the device with her Focus. Whatever she saw seemed unsatisfactory, because she tapped her Focus off and swore softly. 

“Damn fire and spit of the Sun.” She sighed heavily and looked at Nil. “I think we need to go to a different ruin. I need more of these… base units. More power for the device.” She lightly tapped the body of the contraption from which all the wires sprouted.

Nil blatantly admired the lines of her body as she raised her arm and ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. Even chastely dressed in Oseram sparkworker clothes, the sight of her lifted breasts and the smooth line of her neck never failed to flare a spark of desire in Nil’s body. 

She glanced at him and suddenly grinned at the openly sexual intent in his face. “Hey, my eyes are up here,” she teased, and Nil slowly lifted his silver gaze to her face. 

“I know. But the whole package is so tempting, like the thudding pulse of an enemy before that first slice. Why tear my eyes away when I’m the only one who has the privilege to openly look?”

Suntress laughed as Nil slid closer to her and cradled her neck in his palm. “I _think_ that’s supposed to be a compliment, so… thanks, I guess?” 

“My pleasure. If I’m lucky,” Nil purred, then kissed her smirking lips. 

Suntress slid her arm around his neck and kissed him back for a satisfying moment, then she gently pushed him away with a laugh. “Okay, you brute, keep it in your trousers until we get out of here. It’s hardly romantic.” 

“Who said anything about romantic?” Nil drawled mockingly as he sat back and watched her tidy her workspace. 

Suntress’s jaw dropped in amused surprise and she coughed out a laugh as she sorted machine parts into piles. “Wow! Okay. Real nice.” 

Nil tilted his head charmingly at her. “I’m joking, Suntress. Every time with you is romantic. I could strip you naked in a bandit camp and it would still be romantic.” Suddenly Nil’s imagination took off without his permission. The thought of her naked in a bandit camp, a demon of death sprayed with blood from the forceful strikes of her spear… 

Suntress laughed in shock as she ogled his suddenly bulging groin. “ _Nil_! All-Mother’s mercy! Come on, let’s get out of here. It’s bringing out the worst in you.” 

Nil smirked unabashedly and stood up, then folded his arms and leaned against a rusted table while he waited for her to pack up her things. Her face fell back into a frown of concentration as she swiftly rolled up her cables into tidy bundles, tidied a handful of odds and ends into one of her pouches, and tenderly covered her half-finished device with a cotton sheet that she’d brought from Meridian. 

Finally she lifted her spear from the floor and absent-mindedly spun it in an instinctive, skillful motion before racking it in its customary place on her back. She tossed her head to shake back the flame-red tangle of her hair, then shot him a smile. “Ready?”

“Marry me,” Nil said. 

Suntress’s face went slack with shock. “ _What_?”

“I said, marry me,” Nil repeated calmly. He had not intended to say it so baldly, but in this moment, he’d never meant anything more. She was everything Nil had never known he wanted: confident, brilliant, strong and skillful, not to mention beautiful and a complete firebomb during sex. The thought of being bound to her for all the world to see, and for her to _want_ the world to see them together, was so exciting that it made him feel giddy. 

Meanwhile, Suntress was staring at him like he was speaking in tongues. Then she suddenly laughed. “You… you’re not serious.” 

Nil raised his eyebrows. “Of course I am. I want to marry you.” 

“Why?” she asked blankly. “We’re already going to be together forever. Why do you want to get _married?_ Do you… you want a wedding?” She said the last word slowly, like it was both foreign and a curse. 

Nil shrugged, but Suntress continued speaking carefully to him as though he was thick. “I’ve never seen a wedding, but I hear that they have a lot of people. You hate people. You would hate a wedding. And I hate when people put me on a pedestal, like a... thing to be stared at. Why would we want to do that?” 

Nil was confused. She had a point. Neither of them would enjoy having a wedding. He unfolded his arms. “You’re right. Forget I said anything.”

“I can’t just forget! That’s… a big deal.” Suntress peered at him carefully. “You must have had a reason you asked. Why do you want to get married?”

Nil was starting to feel flustered. Usually her sharp questions amused or entertained him, but now they felt _too_ sharp, like hunter’s arrows poking at his skin. To dispel his discomfort, he fell back on sarcasm. “You can say no, Suntress. I won’t be _too_ wounded, I promise.” He reached out and grabbed her hand, then pulled her close. 

To his vast relief, she allowed him to pull her into his body, and she settled comfortably against his chest without any signs of tension or reluctance. “I’m not saying ‘no’, I’m just… confused,” she muttered. 

“Me too,” Nil said honestly, then abruptly he tipped her chin up and kissed her hard. He smoothed his hands over her waist and cupped her ass firmly until she melted against him and arched her back. 

Nil stroked his tongue against hers until a tiny whimper of desire left her throat, then he gently broke the kiss. “Let’s go back to the tent,” he whispered, and she nodded eagerly. 

_That was awkward,_ Nil thought to himself ruefully as they walked back towards the exit of Maker’s End. But luckily for Nil, Suntress could be just as single-minded about sex - and just as easily distracted - as he was. 

*******************

Aloy and Nil left Maker’s End and travelled towards the south following the tracks of a small bandit clan. During the next few days, Aloy watched Nil cautiously, wondering if he was going to bring up the issue of getting married again, but he acted like his usual self: killing with a bloodthirsty grin, sardonically slinging sarcasm and poetry, and touching her body until she felt like she was coming apart at the seams. Eventually Aloy concluded that Nil’s proposal must have just been a random fleeting thought, and that it wasn't going to come up again.

But now she couldn't stop thinking about it. She was genuinely confused by what in the Metal Devil he'd been thinking. Why would he want a wedding? As Aloy had said, she'd never been to a wedding. The Nora didn't really have weddings; her understanding had always been that the focus of a Nora couple’s union was more about having children than celebrating the couple itself, so Nora unions were not really major events. 

If she and Nil got married, what would their wedding even be like? What usually happened at Carja weddings? Were they like Nora festivals, with a feast and music and drinking? For that matter, did the Oseram have different kinds of weddings? What about the Banuk? The Utaru? Even the Tenakth? 

Aloy had never thought about weddings before. But suddenly, a whole new avenue of enquiry had opened in front of her, and she wasn't sure whether she felt more intrigued or horrified by the idea of knowing more. 

But even more preoccupying than the idea of a wedding per se was the idea of marriage. To Aloy, marriage had always meant having some person in authority officially sanction your relationship, and that was something that Aloy automatically turned her nose up at. She didn't need anyone's permission or approval to be with Nil. He was hers, no matter what anyone thought. 

But now, since Nil’s proposal, a different interpretation of marriage had started to whisper in her mind… an interpretation where instead of having their relationship be sanctioned, she and Nil were announcing their partnership proudly to everyone who had ever questioned them, questioned _her_ choice of man. This was what Aloy couldn't stop thinking about as she and Nil finally caught up to the bandit clan at their ramshackle camp just north of Unflinching Watch.

Aloy’s thoughts were briefly diverted to the task of eliminating the bandit clan with Nil at her side. But afterwards, as she listened to Nil humming quietly to himself while he looted a corpse, her mind returned to the image of herself and Nil promising themselves to each other for all the world to see. _That alone might be worth whatever trouble a wedding would be,_ Aloy thought. 

She watched him fondly as he wiped the blood from his knife, then flipped the knife in the air casually and caught it before sheathing it. “Yes,” she blurted suddenly, then flushed as Nil turned to her with a preoccupied look on his face. 

“Hmm?” he said absently as he tucked a handful of shards into his pouch.

Aloy swallowed. She could feel her face getting hotter as Nil turned his full attention to her. Firmly Aloy said, “Yes, I’ll marry you. If you still want to marry me.” Then she grinned, unable to quell a sudden rush of excitement. 

Nil’s answering smile was like the sun rising, a glittering explosion of happiness across his handsome, feral face. Immediately he strode over to her and swept her into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. “You sure, Suntress? You’ll take a Carja killer for your husband?” he said. 

Aloy laughed wildly. “Yes. Yes, of course I will,” she replied. Then, in the middle of the decimated bandit camp, with the gruesome evidence of their work scattered around them, Aloy kissed Nil passionately, her hands sliding into his midnight hair.

Nil delved his tongue deep into her mouth, sparking a fierce hunger in her core. They remained locked in a fierce embrace for another long, delicious moment, then suddenly Aloy broke their kiss and started laughing. She felt light-headed, giddy with happiness. “Are we crazy to do this? It’s crazy. Right?” she asked Nil. 

He smiled slowly at her. “Well, some would say I’m a crazy murderer. They would say you’re crazy for wanting me. If getting married is crazy, then I think it’s perfectly fitting.”

Aloy beamed at him, then lowered her lips to his again. Somehow, he always knew just the right thing to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little homage here to some of the other smutty Niloy fics I’ve read where Nil and Aloy get it on in a decimated bandit camp. It’s definitely NOT something that my Niloy would do (my Aloy would never stand for it), but… I may have guiltily enjoyed those fics anyway. Maybe. ;)


	2. Bride's Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aloy and Nil announce their engagement to Avad and Erend. Avad and Erend get thoroughly overexcited.

After eliminating the bandits at Unflinching Watch, Aloy and Nil made their way to Meridian for one of Aloy’s regular check-ins. During the journey, they vaguely started discussing their betrothal and the details of getting married.

Unfortunately, this was a largely futile exercise, since Aloy knew nothing about weddings and Nil was next to no help. All Aloy knew for sure was that she wanted to get married somewhere in the Sundom; she’d always felt more like a regular person in the Sundom than in the Sacred Lands, since most of the Nora still treated her like an exalted goddess. 

“Have you been to a wedding before?” Aloy asked as they walked through the jungle towards Meridian Village. 

Nil shrugged. “Yes.” And then in characteristic Nil fashion, he didn’t elaborate. 

Aloy elbowed him playfully. “Okay then. What happens at a Carja wedding?”

Nil shrugged again. “A lot of droning prayers. And singing hymns. Then there’s a formal dinner. And some dancing.” He looked quite bored as he conveyed this information.

Aloy recoiled slightly. She was _not_ interested in prayers. And the rest of it didn’t sound particularly appealing either. She wrinkled her nose. “Is that… necessary?” she asked. 

Nil tilted his head thoughtfully, then shrugged yet again. “I don’t know. That’s all I’ve ever seen.”

Aloy processed this information quietly and with a nervous churning in her belly. During the journey to Meridian, she’d kept fluctuating between wild excitement at the thought of being married to Nil, and trepidation at the nebulous and frankly worrisome idea of figuring out what exactly a wedding was and how one went about… well, having one. Now, with Nil’s less-than-enthusiastic description of what a wedding entailed, her mood flip-flopped back to uncertainty and a faint dismay. 

“Having second thoughts, Suntress?” Nil murmured in her ear. His deep voice was laced with mocking laughter. 

She smiled. He always knew what she was thinking. “No,” she retorted. “At least, not about _you_.” 

“That’s a relief,” Nil deadpanned, and Aloy smiled more widely as she slipped her hand into his and squeezed his fingers affectionately. 

Eventually they made their way into the palace. The first person they saw was Erend, who was talking with a small group of his men. He grinned and nodded to them, and Aloy jerked her head at the seating area at the back to indicate where he could find her and Nil when he was done. She asked one of the palace messengers to tell Avad and Marad that they were here, then she and Nil sat side-by-side on a divan to wait for the Sun-King and the Vanguard Captain. 

It wasn’t long before Erend strode over, a big smile on his face. “Aloy! Nil! How are you guys? What have you been up to?”

Aloy rose to hug him, and Nil stood as well as the two men nodded politely to each other. “Trying to solve machine mysteries,” Aloy replied with a rueful smile. 

“And spreading destruction on the scum of the earth,” Nil added with relish. 

Erend chuckled and clapped Nil on the shoulder. “Why do I even ask?” he said jokingly. 

Aloy smiled fondly at the two of them. Erend had recently confided to her that he hadn’t liked Nil for a long time, but that, in Erend’s words, “I guess he’s alright after all, especially since he’s not so much of a dick anymore.” 

Nil smirked faintly, and the three of them sat down to wait for Avad. While they waited, Erend filled them in on news in the city, and Aloy asked whether there were any matters that required her or Nil’s attention while they were here. (As usual, Nil mostly tuned out of the conversation, interjecting occasionally to make some wisecrack, but Aloy and Erend were well accustomed to this by now.) 

Eventually Erend leaned back and put his feet up on the low table in the center of the seating area. “Enough business though! What about you guys? What’s new? Anything interesting from the desert? I’m starved for gossip in the palace. It’s all just fancy Carja stuff that I don’t know anything about.” 

Aloy smirked and glanced at Nil. “Should we tell him?” she asked. After all, Erend was her best friend. It seemed only fitting that he be the first to find out.

Nil shrugged affably and flicked back a strand of her hair before resuming the light stroking of his fingers over her shoulder. “Up to you,” he said easily. 

Aloy turned back to Erend’s quizzical face and grinned. “We’re getting married,” she said. 

“ _What!_ ” Erend exploded. Suddenly Aloy was on her feet again, the breath being squeezed out of her by Erend’s huge arms as he grabbed her in a hug. “Hammer to steel, I - this is incredible! _Aloy!_ When did this happen? I can’t believe this!” 

Erend burst into raucous laughter and reached over to clap Nil on the shoulder so hard that Nil jerked forward with the impact. “You sly fox! When did you ask her? How’d you do it?” 

“Aloy! Nil! It’s good to see you both. What’s all the commotion?” Avad had finally appeared, and his warm smile was tinted with curiosity at Erend’s mirth. 

Before either Aloy or Nil could speak, Erend turned towards him. “Aloy and Nil are getting married!” 

Avad beamed at them as Aloy sat down again beside Nil. “Really? That’s fantastic news! Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. But I’m so pleased for you both. Have you decided on a date?” 

“Forget the date!” Erend interrupted. “Where’s it gonna happen? Here, or in Nora land?” 

Aloy opened her mouth to respond, but Avad turned to Erend before she could speak. “It will happen here, of course! Nil is a Carja prince. It’s his right to have a full royal wedding.” Avad turned to them both. “And Aloy… needless to say, no one is more deserving of a royal wedding than you. I would be so honoured to host your wedding here at the palace.”

“Oh come on, that would be so stuffy,” Erend complained. He pointed at them enthusiastically. “You know where you should get married? At Free Heap! Petra would throw the _biggest_ party you’ve ever seen. Scrappersap will flow like a river. It’ll be great.”

Aloy licked her lips nervously. Anxiety was starting to writhe in her stomach again. She honestly didn’t know what to say, but Avad and Erend didn’t seem particularly interested in her input anyway.

Avad turned to Erend and swelled to his full height. “Absolutely not. Aloy deserves a grand wedding here, in the city she saved twice over. Anything less would be disrespectful.”

Erend was in no way cowed by the Sun-King. “No way!” he retorted. “Aloy’s like my sister. Actually, she’s like _all_ the Oseram’s sister. Everyone I know loves her.” He turned to look at her, his blue eyes wide with conviction. “Trust me, Aloy, you want an Oseram wedding. It’ll be so much fun.”

Aloy shook her head in confusion and ran her hands through her hair. Then suddenly she jumped as Nil slammed his fist on the low table. “Shut up,” he commanded, and Avad and Erend both looked at him, affronted. 

Nil stared up at them both with a sudden implacable authority. “The wedding plans are the bride’s choice. Let her talk.” Then he leaned back casually and draped his arm around Aloy again.

Aloy gaped at him. The wedding plans were the bride’s choice? She didn’t know that. Was this an official rule or something?

Apparently it was, since Avad and Erend both looked chastised. “He’s right,” Avad conceded with a small half-bow to Aloy. “I’m sorry, Aloy. We got ahead of ourselves. What did you have in mind?”

Now Avad and Erend _and_ Nil were all staring at her expectantly. This was worse than the arguing. Aloy said the only thing she could think of. “Uhhh…”

Avad’s eyebrows rose in polite confusion, and Erend’s furrowed into a frown. Finally Aloy admitted, “I’ve never been to a wedding. So… I’m not sure what I want to do.” 

Then Nil suddenly tilted his head. “Do the Nora have weddings?” he asked, and Aloy shook her head. 

This immediately set Avad and Erend into an uproar again, and this time they made no pretense of even listening to each other. “No weddings?” Erend exclaimed. “That’s all the more reason you have to have an Oseram wedding! We go all out, it’s a huge party and everyone gets so _drunk_ , it’s-” 

Avad tried to drown him out. “It _must_ be a royal wedding, then, there’s no question. You’ll have the very best of what the Sundom has to offer. You won’t regret it, Aloy, the food alone…”

Aloy clutched her head in her hands as Erend and Avad continued throwing suggestions at her. This was horrible. They sounded like two Longlegs fighting each other. Was this what every couple had to go through when they wanted to get married? 

“Enough!” Nil barked. He stood up to face Avad and Erend. “Your incessant _talking_ is like a drill to the temple. Shut the fuck up and let her think.”

Aloy looked up at him, feeling pitifully grateful for his intervention. Normally Aloy would never have wanted Nil to speak for her, but this situation was unprecedented. She felt totally overwhelmed. 

At that moment, a calm male voice broke in. “Nil. I thought I detected your dulcet tones.” Aloy looked up as Marad drifted over. His face was as pleasant and bland as ever, but his sharp eyes darted between Erend’s and Avad’s pouting faces and Nil’s authoritatively folded arms. He nodded respectfully to Aloy. “Aloy, it is good to see you. It seems that I’ve missed something important. May I ask what’s happened?”

Aloy stood from the divan and attempted to look professional and composed as she faced Marad. “Nil and I are getting married. We just, um, shared the news with Avad and Erend.” 

To Aloy’s surprise and alarm, Marad’s eyes brightened suddenly. “Splendid news! This will be quite the momentous occasion: the first formal marriage alliance between the Carja and the Nora. This will surely cement the partnership between our tribes. Not that your good deeds alone haven’t been enough to earn the Carja’s friendship to the Nora already-” 

“No,” Aloy snapped. She had heard enough. She was suddenly furious with all of them. She narrowed her eyes at Marad. “This isn’t about the Carja and the Nora. I don’t _belong_ to the Nora, and Nil doesn’t belong to the Carja. He was just ‘the disgraced prince’ until two years ago, remember? He’s not suddenly a Carja representative just because _you_ want him to be.” 

Then she spun on Avad and Erend. “And you two. Stop making this about yourselves. This isn’t about huge parties, or royalty or politics or any of that. It’s about me and Nil. So keep quiet unless I expressly _ask_ your opinions or advice.”

Then finally, she turned to Nil and took a threatening step towards him. “And _you_. The wedding plans might be the bride’s choice among the Carja, but I’m no Carja. And if you think I’m making all of these slagging decisions on my own, you are deeply mistaken.” 

Without another word, Aloy spun on her heel and stormed away. 

******************

Some time later, Aloy was brooding by the balcony in the small east-facing palace suite that she and Nil shared when they were in Meridian when she heard a knock at the door. Grudgingly she rose and opened the door. 

Avad was standing there, looking remarkably sheepish. “Aloy. I’m sorry to disturb you. May I come in?”

Aloy pursed her lips, but stepped back to let him inside and walked back over to the balcony. Avad cleared his throat awkwardly as he followed her. Once they were standing at the balcony together, Avad humbly folded his hands in front of him. “Aloy, I want to apologize. I got carried away this afternoon when you and Nil announced your news. It’s not my wish to impose a royal wedding on you if that’s not what you want. _But_... if you do want one… you have only to ask. Meridian’s finest jewelers, dressmakers, artisans, chefs, and musicians will be at your disposal.” 

“Thank you, Avad,” Aloy said hastily. The mention of all these different professions made her anxious again. What in the Metal Devil were all those people needed for? 

Avad nodded. “Marad also wanted to pass along his apologies. It was not his intention to politicize what should be a romantic celebration.” 

Aloy snorted. “I’m sure it wasn’t. Marad is all about the romantic celebrations.” 

Aloy and Avad exchanged knowing smirks, and Avad chuckled. They both leaned back against the balcony. 

Avad folded his arms and tilted her a fond look. “I hope you know that we’re simply excited, Erend and I. We just want to celebrate your happiness. It’s truly a pleasure to see you so happy.” 

Aloy gave him a small smile, but secretly she was still feeling anxious. This afternoon’s debacle had just pointed out to her how much she didn’t know about weddings, and as always, Aloy _hated_ not having the answers. The idea that she and Nil now had to plan this big event without even knowing where to start… 

She swallowed hard and managed to smile at Avad. “Where’s Nil, by the way?” She suddenly felt bad that she’d just abandoned him with the other men. 

“He said he was going to the market, that he had an errand to run,” Avad told her. Then he smiled ruefully. “You’ll probably be happy to know he gave us quite the earful after you left. Bodily threats were involved. I assure you that they were very colourful. Marad was less than pleased.” 

Aloy laughed and finally began to relax. _That’s my man,_ she thought to herself with a rush of affection. Suddenly she just wanted to be by his side again. “Thank you, Avad. I think I’ll go find him now.” She politely walked the Sun-King back to the door. 

However, as she opened the door, it was to find Erend standing on the threshold. He smiled faintly at Avad, who did not look surprised to see him. Avad patted Erend on the shoulder as he left. 

Aloy folded her arms and eyed the Vanguard Captain, who seemed just as sheepish as Avad had looked. “I suppose you’re going to apologize too?” she said. 

“Uhh, yeah…” Erend ran his hand over his mohawk awkwardly. “Listen, I was really out of line. You were right, it’s not about the Oseram or the party or all that. You should do whatever you and Nil want to do. But… if you _do_ decide to invite Petra and the others at Free Heap, it will be a real noisy celebration. Just… be aware.”

Aloy sighed and slumped down on the floor by the bed, and Erend sat next to her. “Erend… I don’t even know where to start. Is there… I don’t know… a tome or something about how to plan weddings…?” 

Erend snorted a laugh. “Not that I know of. But why don’t you do what you always do? Talk to people. Ask other people what they did. Maybe you can get ideas that way.” 

Aloy was silent for a moment as she mulled this over. It was a good idea, actually: treat this like a fact-finding mission, like any other thing that she just wanted to find more information about. Suddenly she started to feel more in control again. _This is just another quest,_ she thought to herself with sudden determination. _Learning new information, making new discoveries, then… putting together the pieces._

She beamed at Erend. “You’re a genius. That’s a really good idea, Erend. Thank you.”

Erend smiled back at her. “No problem.” Then he hefted himself to his feet, and Aloy rose as well.

They left her suite together to head out to the market: Aloy to find Nil, and Erend to do his twice-weekly rounds. “So,” Aloy said vindictive pleasure, “I heard that Nil threatened you guys. What did he say?” 

Erend grunted. “He told us to apologize for upsetting you,” he admitted. “And… he said he would use our bowels for bunting if we didn’t.” 

“That’s disgusting,” Aloy exclaimed. Then a huge grin spread over her face as she added, “That’s going to be my husband.” Abruptly she burst into laughter, and soon she was clutching her belly with mirth. 

Erend shook his head wryly as she wiped tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes. “You guys are weird. I don’t get it.” 

Aloy grinned at him and slipped her arm through his as they continued their walk. She couldn’t blame Erend. Nobody really understood her and Nil. But maybe after their wedding, everyone would understand them a little better.

******************

Aloy was frankly stunned to find Nil in the market with Vanasha. She was even more shocked to discover that they were _not_ arguing. Nil was smirking slightly as he said something to Vanasha, and Vanasha actually threw her head back in genuine laughter. 

“Little huntress!” Vanasha kissed Aloy on both cheeks and hugged her fiercely. “How dare you not come and tell me first that you got engaged to this madman? I'm deeply offended!” 

Aloy gave her a knowing look. “Vanasha, you're so nosy that I'm surprised you didn't know before we even stepped into the palace.” 

Vanasha gave a throaty laugh. “I know you meant that as a jab, but I'll take it as a compliment.” She grinned wickedly. “Your future husband was just telling me how he proposed. Very charming,” she drawled. 

“I thought it was fitting,” Nil defended himself. “In the dark of those ruins, I realized what was truly important to me. And later, with the crimson pools of our shared work spread around us, I know Aloy saw it too: our whole lives together, unspooled before us like the unfurled guts of an eviscerated enemy.” He pulled Aloy close to him with a strong arm around her waist. “It was a beautiful moment. Don’t you think?” 

Aloy grinned up at him in amused adoration. “Absolutely.” 

Vanasha shook her head. “The pair of you… this wedding is going to be terrifying. I almost don't want know what you have planned.” 

“Nothing,” Aloy answered honestly. A pang of worry rolled over her again, but she forced herself to ignore it and stood up straighter. “Vanasha, what can you tell me about Carja weddings? I don’t know anything, and Nil’s essentially useless.” She shot him a look of fond exasperation, and he shrugged agreement. Aloy turned back to her friend. “We need to start somewhere. You’re a courtier, you must have seen weddings in the palace before.” 

Vanasha tossed her hair smugly and leaned her weight on one hip. “ _Seen_ weddings? Darling, I’ve planned more weddings than I can count.”

Aloy’s eyebrows jumped high on her forehead. “You have? Why?” Wedding planning seemed a huge departure from Vanasha’s usual activities. 

Vanasha gave her a wicked smile. “Favours and information, little huntress. You’d be surprised at the favours and gossip you can get from a grateful groom, or a guilty bride, or a hysterical groom’s mother…”

Aloy shot a startled look at Nil, who looked equally nonplussed. Vanasha laughed suddenly and linked her arms through Aloy’s and Nil’s. “Relax, girl. I wouldn’t ever blackmail a dear friend. Let’s get a drink. I’ll tell you everything you need to know about Carja weddings.”

Aloy smirked ruefully and allowed Vanasha to tug them towards her favourite Carja restaurant. She was relieved to finally have a lead on unraveling the mystery of weddings, but somehow, she suspected that her fact-finding mission was only just beginning…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, you know how you can tell this story is a fantasy? Because look at how invested the men are in the whole wedding planning process!!! HAHAHA TT^TT


	3. Stress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aloy and Nil learn more about the wedding traditions of other tribes. Later, they head out towards the east for some wedding-related errands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This fic has kind of become a fun opportunity for me to do a little reading about the marriage traditions in other cultures, and to imagine what the various HZD tribes’ wedding traditions would look like. So that’s where this chapter kind of goes. Hope it’s not boring…

As per Erend’s suggestion, Aloy spent the next week or so doing what she always did when she was uncertain: asking everyone for more information, with Nil faithfully at her side. Vanasha had given her quite a clear idea of what Carja weddings involved, and Avad had happily filled her in on some of the details of royal weddings in particular, but Aloy felt that she needed to branch out beyond Carja traditions. Somehow, following a traditional (or royal) Carja wedding seemed like it wouldn’t… fit. It didn’t feel right to her.

She’d asked Erend to tell her more about Oseram weddings, and he’d been delighted to tell her what he knew… which, considering his enthusiasm, turned out to be not as much as she’d hoped. Erend told her at length about the multiple days of booze-soaked celebration and games leading up to an Oseram wedding, and the equally alcohol-laden party that followed the ceremony proper, but he'd been unable to tell her much about an Oseram ceremony itself. 

“Usually the clan leader or the mayor marries the couple,” Erend told her and Nil. “But I know of Oseram weddings where an older family member does it. Not sure how they decide.” Then he snapped his fingers with a sudden memory and pounded his fist on the table in sudden mirth. “I almost forgot one of the best parts of the ceremony! Everyone who’s come to watch the wedding gets to throw insults at the couple, and the couple have to make clever comebacks together to shoot down the insults. It always makes for a good time!” Erend laughed raucously, seemingly in memory of some of his favourite wedding insults. 

Aloy wrinkled her nose. “That sounds… interesting.” It sounded frankly horrible, but Aloy was trying to keep an open mind. “What’s the point of that?”

Erend chuckled. “I guess it’s supposed to show how the couple can work together as a team. You know, partner up against the world and take down anything they might throw at you.” 

Aloy raised her eyebrows. Actually, that _was_ an interesting notion, especially for her and Nil. She glanced askance at him. 

He smirked at her. “I’m in for any kind of war, Suntress, whether it’s wounds or words. I’m sure the sharp edge of our tongues could rip apart the flesh of any insults your Oseram friends throw at us.” 

Aloy twisted her lips ruefully. “Probably. But I don’t know how much the Carja guests will appreciate it.” Aloy and Nil had ultimately decided to have the wedding in Meridian, much to Avad’s delight; it was a central location, easy to get to for Oseram and Carja guests alike. However, they were shirking many of the other aspects of a royal wedding. Royal weddings took place in the Temple of the Sun, but since Aloy and Nil both insisted on a secular wedding, that was a no-go. So they hadn’t quite decided where in Meridian to get married. 

Eventually Aloy and Nil finished the lunch they’d been sharing with Erend and bade him farewell, then headed to the market to collect resources for a trip. In the course of Aloy’s wedding-information-seeking mission, she’d learned something that meant she and Nil had to make a journey.

Vanasha and Avad had told Aloy that Carja brides always wore elaborate, delicate gowns in the colours of the sun. Royals wore silk and gauze, while commoners tended to wear brightly dyed cotton with silk accents. Aloy had immediately decided this kind of frivolous garb was not for her. She hadn’t been without some kind of protective gear ever since she'd left the Embrace almost three years ago, and the idea of being totally unarmoured just made her feel uncomfortable. Avad had offered for a Carja armourer and seamstress to custom-make something for her, but she'd politely declined: there was only one stitcher she would ever consider to make something special just for her, and she'd have to go back to the Sacred Lands to request his aid. 

And so Aloy and Nil were preparing to go back to Nora land. 

As they stocked up on wire and lightened their pouches of machine parts, they suddenly heard a familiar female voice call to them. “Aloy! Nil!” 

It was Luka, waving them over from a machine part merchant’s stall. She hugged Aloy and Nil in greeting, and Aloy beamed in surprise at the young Banuk shamaness. “Luka, it’s great to see you! Where have you been?” 

Aloy and Nil hadn’t seen Luka since the week after the Tenakth battle. She’d returned to Meridian with them, then had left to wander as the Banuk were often wont to do. Aloy had always wondered where Luka had gone, and she’d be lying if she said her thoughts hadn’t been tinged with a hint of guilt: it was no secret that Luka had had unrequited feelings for Nil.

But to Aloy’s surprise, Luka smiled at them both with enthusiastic greeting and not a hint of longing. “Aloy, I found your shaman friend Brin! And you were right - he agreed to teach me more about the machine songs.” She chuckled. “I’m not sure how… mainstream his methods are. He’s shown me some things that seem _very_ occult. But it’s fascinating - more than I could ever have hoped to learn otherwise.” She squeezed Aloy’s arm. “Thank you for telling me about him. He remembers you well, by the way. He said you were kind to him.” 

Aloy pulled a little face. “I don’t know if ‘kind’ is the right word… Sometimes I think I shouldn’t have just let him drink all that machine blood.” It had been fascinating at the time, and Aloy had hunted the machines Brin had requested out of sheer curiosity about what he would say next, but sometimes she felt guilty for enabling what was probably _not_ a healthy habit.

Nil raised one eyebrow at her. “What are you talking about?”

Aloy laughed, and together she and Luka explained about the strange Banuk shaman Aloy had met in the desert so long ago. 

Nil shook his head in disbelief. “The Tenakth drink human blood, the Banuk drink machine blood… what about the Nora, Suntress? Do they drink animal blood, perhaps?” He smirked teasingly at her. 

Aloy shoved him playfully. “No, you lunkhead! _You’re_ more savage than we are. Besides, Brin’s special. He’s the only Banuk who drinks machine blood. Right, Luka?” 

Luka gave a tiny cough, and Aloy whipped around to look at her in shocked amusement. “You didn’t.”

Luka laughed and raised her hands helplessly. “It’s how he taught me! And it was just a few times, just to learn how to get into the right frame of mind for interpreting the machine songs. There’s actually something to it, Aloy. You’d be surprised.”

Aloy raised her eyebrows thoughtfully, then Luka spoke again. “By the way, I heard your news - congratulations! Will you be getting married in the city?” 

Aloy examined Luka’s face carefully, but there wasn’t any wistfulness or melancholy in the dark-eyed girl’s expression. She looked genuinely pleased. It seemed that pursuing her passion for the shamanic arts had been good for Luka in more ways than one. 

Aloy smiled and nodded. “Yes, it will happen here… we don’t know exactly where though.” She looked at Nil, and they shrugged cluelessly at each other. 

Then Nil turned to Luka. “Come to the wedding. I want you to be my witness.” 

Luka’s eyes widened, and Aloy looked at him in pleased surprise. Aside from not wanting prayers at the wedding, this was the first time Nil had expressed a strong opinion about anything relating to the wedding. 

Luka swallowed. “Me? Really? That’s… wow. I’d be honoured!” She beamed at them both.

A sudden thought just occured to Aloy. “Luka, what are Banuk weddings like? Do the Banuk get married?” 

Luka nodded. “Yes, but not that often anymore, especially as our numbers have grown. In the past, weddings were reserved for the strongest hunters in the werak, and you had to find a mate outside your own werak…” She shrugged. “People stopped following those rules, so most Banuk partnerships nowadays are informal. Sometimes people still want to get married though, so a shaman blesses the couple.” Suddenly she grinned. “Hey, technically I could marry the two of you!” 

Aloy smirked ruefully at her. “I would love that, but… we already asked Marad to officiate.” This had been something of a concession on Aloy’s part. When she and Nil had refused to have a ceremony under the Sun Faith, Marad had stated that there should be some kind of Carja tradition to their union if they were to get married in Meridian so as not to scandalize the Carja… so Aloy had vindictively suggested that Marad marry them, knowing he’d be less than thrilled to have that duty added to his already heaping plate. And naturally, with Avad’s regal frown looking down at him, Marad had had no choice but to agree.

They chatted with Luka a little bit longer, then bade her farewell to begin their journey out east. They were planning to stop at Free Heap on the way so Aloy could learn more about Oseram weddings from Petra, who Erend had assured Aloy would actually know something useful, given that Petra would have officiated many weddings as the leader of Free Heap. 

Aloy sighed. Technically, this fact-finding mission was going well so far: she was learning a lot about the wedding traditions of the different tribes, and gradually she and Nil were figuring out what they wanted to do for their own wedding. The pieces were coming together slowly but surely. And yet… Aloy somehow felt… tired. As much as she was trying to treat this like any other quest, it was somehow draining her energy more quickly than any other mission she’d done. 

They stepped into the Great Elevator and Aloy pulled the crank to lower the cage to the base of the palace, then she leaned back against the grate and folded her arms. 

“Are you angry?” 

Aloy looked up at Nil in surprise. “No. Why?”

He tilted his head. “Your face looks like thunder. It was a reasonable guess.” 

Aloy relaxed slightly and unfolded her arms, then she managed a half-smile, “No, I’m not angry. I’m just… tired, I guess.” 

“Makes sense,” Nil replied casually. “You hardly slept.” 

Aloy smirked. “No thanks to you,” she retorted smoothly. Nil had been particularly hands-on last night. 

But to her surprise, Nil shook his head. “I don’t mean that. You were tossing and turning all night.”

She stared at him. “I was?” Aloy didn’t remember stirring that much during the night. She remembered having vivid dreams: restless images of Longlegs fighting Stalkers, of waterfalls on fire, and strangely enough, of Rost - but she didn’t think the dreams had actually stopped her from sleeping. 

Nil nodded. Aloy shrugged slightly. “I don’t know why. Maybe it’s strange sleeping in a bed again.” She and Nil had been travelling for about a month straight, after all. But Aloy didn’t usually have trouble sleeping. The night before the Proving, she’d fallen asleep immediately. Even before the Battle of HADES, she’d slept soundly until the Carja guard had woken her. 

Nil continued to examine her carefully until she shifted uncomfortably. “Why are you looking at me like that?” she demanded. 

Nil tilted his head again. “Vanasha told me to look for… signs of stress. She said wedding planning can make a woman want to blow someone’s head off with a Firespitter.” He grinned slowly. “I think she came up with that imagery just for me. She must have been serious.” 

Aloy frowned, feeling strangely offended. “I’m not stressed! Stress is… trying to save the world from a rogue subfunction that’s raising Deathbringers from the dirt. _That’s_ stress. This is… a party. Just a stupid party. It’s not that big a deal.” 

But Nil continued to watch her speculatively. “Suntress, are you _sure_ you’re not having second thoughts? We don’t have to do this.” 

Aloy ran her hands through her hair in sudden frustration, then reached up and cupped Nil’s face firmly. “Nil. We are doing this. It’s already happening. We have a date, we sort of have a location, we have an officiant and witnesses. It’s happening.” She released his face and ran her hands through her hair again, then sighed sharply before giving him a determined smile. “The rest is just details.” 

Nil gazed at her for another long moment, then nodded. “As you say.” He slung his arm around her shoulders to pull her close, then kissed her on the forehead. 

Aloy finally relaxed as she wrapped her arms around him and rested her cheek against his collarbone. She closed her eyes as the elevator continued its slow descent. _This is why we’re doing this,_ she reminded herself. The heat of Nil’s skin, his orange-oil scent, his unwavering support. _This_ was why the trouble was worth it.

She just needed to keep reminding herself of that. 

******************

Nil and Suntress arrived at Free Heap two days later. During those two days of travel, Nil continued to follow Vanasha’s advice; he watched Suntress closely, listened to the tone of her voice as well as the words she said, and decided that he was definitely seeing signs of stress. Suntress was considerably more snappy, more on edge than usual, and yet her ire wasn’t aimed at him. It seemed… free-floating, somehow. An increased annoyance with everyone and everything in general. 

Nil couldn’t decide whether to be relieved that she wasn’t mad at _him_ specifically. Obviously he didn’t like when Suntress was mad at him, but when she was, he’d always been able to talk her down somehow. This general irritability she was showing was something Nil wasn’t sure how to fix: partly because it was how he felt a lot of the time when he was around anyone who wasn’t her (how to fix something that, to him, wasn’t a problem?), but especially since Suntress was denying that there was a problem at all. 

Since she was clearly stressed, Nil decided he needed to help her relax. He knew of two things that always relaxed her. The first was just hearing him talk. For some reason, she seemed to like it when he told her stories. So while they rode to Free Heap on their Broadheads, Nil talked. He told her about the Bloodlands; he told her about the first man he’d ever seen killed; he told her about some of the conversations he’d had with Janeva while he was at Sunstone Rock. And when he found himself floundering for something to keep droning on about, he’d tell her what she called the Demon Tales: Nil’s tongue-in-cheek recounting of his first few encounters with Suntress herself. These stories never failed to amuse her.

The second thing that relaxed her was much more enjoyable for Nil, and much more… physical. He put in extra effort to make sure Suntress slept like a baby during those two nights that they were travelling. 

But despite the boneless state that Nil put her into every night before going to sleep, she still woke up in the mornings with more tension than usual. Nil wasn't sure how much longer he could keep coming up with stuff to tell her to keep her relaxed. Maybe he could tell her in detail about all his best fights. That might carry them as far as the Sacred Lands. 

Meanwhile, Nil was starting to feel some unusual tension himself, but unlike Suntress, he was fully aware that it was related to the idea of a wedding. He was trying to do as she'd asked (or demanded?), and was trying to have opinions about the wedding, but it was difficult to give a shit when Suntress had been right in the first place: it wasn't a wedding that Nil wanted. It was just being _married_ to her. The wedding and all the details were just unnecessary trappings, like trying to put gold plating on a 24-karat necklace. Why try to dress up something that was already perfect? 

But Nil didn't say this. As Suntress had said, the gears were already in motion, and they'd just have to see this through. 

When Nil and Suntress arrived at Free Heap, they went straight up to Petra’s workbench to tell her the news. She proceeded to laugh for about two minutes straight, until Suntress dissolved into laughter as well and threatened to shove a shockbomb into her britches if she didn't stop. 

When she finally stopped laughing, Petra grinned at the two of them like a mother who was humouring her children. “Well, well. Steel-Eyes and Flame-Hair are going to forge the bond that never breaks. But what brings you all the way out here? You must have a lot to plan. Can't just be a social call.” 

“No, not entirely,” Suntress admitted. “We’re trying to plan this wedding, and we've heard all about Carja weddings, but we don't know much about Oseram weddings.”

Nil added, “The Idiot Vanguard Captain-” Suntress shoved him, so he corrected himself. “...Erend told us what he knew. Which was-” 

“- probably enough information to fill a thimble. I get the picture.” Petra tilted her head and looked at them consideringly. “You know, you're smart to try and learn more. A fancy Carja wedding wouldn't suit either of you.” 

Suntress gave a huge sigh of relief and beamed at Petra, which pleased Nil. He'd always felt that Petra saw more than she let on, and her pointed questions - not unlike Suntress’s - used to annoy him, but it looked like her insight was serving Suntress well now. 

Petra folded her arms and smiled fondly at Suntress. “All right. What do you want to know?”

Suntress and Nil looked at each other, then Suntress gazed back at Petra intensely. “Everything.” 

******************

As it turned out, Petra really was a wealth of information about Oseram weddings. She told them that the weddings that took place in the heart of the Claim were still very patriarchal, as they were governed by the ealdormen, but among the younger Oseram, a more egalitarian style of wedding had evolved. This was what Erend was familiar with, and what Petra had officiated on several occasions.

Petra shared one particular tradition that interested Nil and Suntress. “In the past, couples would forge chain-links together, to represent the new marriage. Nowadays, Oseram families sometimes come together to forge something for the new couple. Sometimes it’s decorative, a housewarming ornament or something, but often it’s practical, like a weapon or a tool. We’re a very practical bunch, as you know.” She winked at Nil. 

Suntress tilted her head thoughtfully. “That’s interesting. We don’t have much use for anything ornamental, but… that chain-links idea, there’s something to that…” Suntress thought for a moment, then sketched out her idea to Nil and Petra. Nil agreed with her suggestion, and Petra proclaimed herself honoured to help. 

Suntress then turned to Nil. “I’m going to go chat with some of the others here, let them know about the wedding. Do you want to wait with the Broadheads? I won’t be long.”

Nil shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ll wait here with Petra. We’ll catch up.”

Nil couldn’t tell whose eyebrows jumped higher: Suntress’s or Petra’s. Suntress smirked at him. “Since when do you catch up with anyone aside from bandits who are trying to run away from you?”

Nil actually laughed. Damn, but she had him pegged. He flicked one of her braids back over her shoulder playfully. “Go have your little social chats, Suntress. I’m fine here.”

She threw him one last smirk, then descended the tower to talk to the other residents of Free Heap. As soon as she was out of earshot, Petra turned to Nil with her arms folded. “All right, boy, out with it. I know you want something. Make it quick before she comes back.” 

Nil breathed a little sigh of relief. The overbearing forgewoman really didn’t miss anything, and in this case, it was in Nil’s favour. Deceiving Suntress, even for a good reason, was not something Nil was accustomed to doing, and clearly he wasn’t very good at it. Swiftly he reached into one of his pouches and pulled out a slightly crumpled scroll and unrolled it on Petra’s workbench. 

“I want you to make these for us. Usually the royal metalworkers make them. But… I think it would mean more to Aloy if _you_ did it.” 

Petra stared at him in surprise for a moment, then looked down at the plans Nil was showing her. She narrowed her eyes. “This is a delicate design, Steel-Eyes. I’m surprised the fancy Carja prince would trust my clumsy Oseram fingers with a task like this.” She raised one eyebrow in playful challenge.

Nil smirked at her, but for once, he didn’t rise to the taunt-bait that she cast him. “Aloy trusts you. That’s good enough for me. Will you do it?” 

Petra rolled her eyes and sighed. “I suppose so. For Aloy though, not for you,” she added severely. But as she gazed up at him, her brown eyes twinkled with warmth. 

Nil inclined his head seriously. “Thank you.” 

Petra smiled widely at him, then elbowed him unceremoniously. “Does this mean we’re friends now, boy? You interested in hearing more of my stories?”

“Fuck no,” Nil replied immediately. 

Petra laughed raucously. “I hope you’ll say your vows with the same conviction,” she joked. 

A sudden jolt of apprehension jumped in Nil’s gut. Somehow he’d forgotten about the vows. Usually the Sun Priests just said… whatever the fuck they said during royal weddings, but since he and Suntress weren’t doing a religious thing, they’d have to come up with something on their own to supplement whatever Marad was going to say. 

Petra glanced at him, then double-taked at the blank look on his face. Then her face split in a huge grin. “Oh ho. You haven’t started thinking about the vows, have you?”

Nil shook his head grudgingly, and if possible, Petra laughed even more loudly. “Hammer to steel, boy, you’d better get thinking about it. Everyone will be waiting to hear what you have to say about that flame-hair. You’ll have to make it good, or my people will burn you to the ground.”

Nil swallowed hard and didn’t say anything. Somehow it had only just occurred to him that he and Suntress would be on show to the whole of Meridian: watched, scrutinized, _judged_. Suddenly he felt uncomfortable in a way that he hadn’t in years, not since before he’d gone to the Bloodlands. Nil didn’t care what people thought of him, but… what if he disappointed or embarrassed Suntress with inadequate words? 

Petra was staring at him with concern. “Nil? You look pale. You feeling alright? You need some Scrappersap?”

Nil tucked his sarcasm around himself like a shield. “Only if it’s from Kendert and not that local shit that Rory pisses out,” he drawled.

Petra rolled her eyes again, but with no real pique. “Fire and spit, you’re such a bloody _noble_. I’ll be back.” She strolled off towards the stairs to the tower base. 

Nil slowly walked over to the edge of the tower and easily picked out Suntress’s brilliant red hair as she chatted and laughed with her Oseram cronies. Watching her soothed him a bit, but the fresh surge of anxiety in his gut was making him feel uncertain. 

Maybe this wedding wasn’t such a good idea after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH SHIT I accidentally made this a tiny bit angsty?? Whoops?? Don’t worry though it’ll have a happy ending and stuff I PROMISE.


	4. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aloy and Nil return to the Sacred Lands for some wedding-related errands, and Aloy introduces Nil to someone important. 
> 
> A/N: Feels alert. Also a little line borrowed from HBO's Westworld in here.

Nil was quiet as they set off on their Broadheads towards the east. It wasn’t unusual for them to travel in comfortable silence, but Aloy found his close-lipped mien to be particularly abrupt given how garrulous he’d been during the trip to Free Heap. When she glanced over at him, his face was a neutral mask. 

“Nil, what's the matter?” 

He glanced at her in surprise. Despite her own lingering edginess that didn’t seem to want to fade, Aloy smiled. “ _Your_ face looks like a blank slate. Come on, what's wrong?”

Nil rubbed his hair absently, which only served to confirm Aloy’s judgment. Then abruptly he blurted out, “I love you.”

Aloy gave a surprised bark of laughter, but Nil wasn't finished. “Everyone in the Sundom knows it. So why do they need to hear it in excruciating detail? They’re like scavengers, waiting to pick a corpse clean of its clinging flesh. The things I would say to you… it’s not for them to hear.”

Aloy examined him closely. “Are you talking about the vows?” she asked slowly. Nil nodded.

Aloy felt a sudden surge of tenderness for him. “Are you nervous about saying vows in front of everyone in Meridian?” she asked gently. 

He frowned at her. “No,” he retorted. “I don't give a fuck about them. That's the problem.” He was quiet for a moment, his fingers pulling through the longer hair of his mohawk. Then he said, “Suntress, my words are for your ears only. The twists and turns that brought us together… that maze is not for them.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “I don’t like to share you with others. So why would I share anything else about you with a bunch of greedy onlookers, looking to pick us over like Glinthawks?”

The tender ache in her chest squeezed more firmly. _Poor Nil,_ she thought with sudden compassion. Even if he said he didn’t care about what others thought of him, Aloy knew that the heavily social aspects of the wedding must be hard for him to stomach. It probably reminded him of when he had to act like the proper Carja prince as a teenager. 

And frankly, now that he mentioned it, Aloy had to admit she agreed with him about the vows. She wasn’t really keen on the idea sharing the depth of her feelings for Nil in front of everyone either. It had been a big enough adjustment for her to learn to talk about emotional stuff with Vanasha and Erend, not to mention the awkwardness of talking feelings with Avad back when they’d briefly been together. 

“We don’t have to say vows,” Aloy suggested. “Marad’s already coming up with something for the ceremony. We’ll just tell him to… come up with a little more.” She shrugged slightly. 

Nil glanced at her warily. “That wouldn’t bother you?”

Aloy shrugged again. “I don’t really want to say vows either. You’re right, it’s nobody’s business to hear all the details of... how we feel. That’s for us.” But somehow, Aloy couldn’t help but feel confused. Wasn’t that the point of a wedding - to proclaim to everyone about how much you loved your partner? Wasn’t that why she had wanted to do this in the first place: to announce to everyone that she was choosing this man, this Carja killer, to stand by her side? 

Aloy ran her fingers through her hair, and of course, Nil noticed. “Suntress. Don’t hide from me. You’re bothered by this,” he drawled.

She sighed. “I don’t know, Nil. It’s… it’s not this one thing. Something about this wedding just seems… off. I don’t know how to explain it.” She turned to look at him seriously. “But I understand about the vows. I agree with you, and it’s fine, really. Marad will come up with something.” Then she smirked vindictively as she imagined the older man trying to find something remotely emotional to say about her and Nil. She respected Marad’s intelligence and value as an advisor to the Sun-King, but he was so uncompromisingly _political_ all the time that sometimes she just liked to see him squirm.

Nil smirked as he noticed her expression. “You’re cruel, Suntress. I know you’re relishing the thought of the advisor’s discomfort.” 

Aloy laughed. He really knew her too well. “I’m relishing the thought of him trying to find something nice to say about _you_ ,” she teased. 

Nil chuckled darkly, then jerked his chin in the direction they were riding. “Come on. Let’s race.” He kicked his Broadhead’s flanks and sped off along the path. 

Aloy grinned and sped after him. Maybe they just needed to leave their cares behind for a bit. Maybe this lingering feeling of unsettlement would be whipped away in their wake by the wind.

*********************

They arrived in the Sacred Lands a few days later and went straight to Mother’s Heart to talk to the High Matriarchs. Teersa immediately gave her blessing for Aloy to invite a few of the Nora to the Sundom for the wedding, and Jezza agreed, though with a touch more reserve. Teersa had proclaimed that the Anointed was entitled to whatever she needed to fulfil her sacred purpose, but Aloy could tell from the grandmotherly pride in her face that Teersa had ulterior motives in supporting Aloy and Nil’s union. Aloy decided wisely not to dispel Teersa’s notions; the Matriarch didn’t need to know that Aloy had been taking mother’s bane continuously for almost three years, with no intention of stopping anytime soon.

Aloy and Nil then went on the search for Teb, whom Teersa had confirmed was in Mother’s Heart. Aloy finally found him in a large, cozy cabin, teaching the art of stitching and armouring to four younger Nora. 

As always, Teb’s gentle face lit with a happy smile as he saw her. Gracefully he rose from his cross-legged position on the ground to greet her with a half-bow and one hand over his heart. “Aloy! I’m so happy to see you! And Nil, of course.” Teb enthusiastically shook Nil’s hand. “What brings you to Mother’s Heart?”

“You, actually,” Aloy said with a smile. “Nil and I are getting married in Meridian.” She ignored the sudden stares and whispers of Teb’s young apprentices. “Weddings are… a big deal in the Sundom. Brides always wear some kind of special gown. So I was hoping you would be able to make something for me.” 

Teb stared at her, his ice-blue eyes shining. “Aloy… what an honour. I would love to!” Then suddenly he looked worried. “But how will I get the gown to you? Will you come back to Mother’s Heart before the wedding to fetch it?” 

“Actually, I was hoping you would come back to Meridian with us, and make the gown there. I have some… ideas for what I want, and the Nora don't have the materials here. The Matriarchs already gave their blessing for you to come with us.” Aloy glanced uncomfortably at Teb’s apprentices, who were now goggling the three of them with shameless awe. “I didn't realize you had students though. I don't want to take you away from-” 

Teb waved his hand enthusiastically. “My apprentices are well able to continue learning on their own. They're almost good enough to become Stitchers in their own right.” Teb beamed at her, his hands clasped together as though in prayer. “Aloy, _thank_ you. To dress the Anointed for her wedding in foreign lands… All-Mother must be smiling on me for you to give me such an honour.” 

Aloy patted Teb awkwardly on the shoulder. “Teb, you're doing _me_ the favour. Really. We have a few more errands to run in the Sacred Lands, but we’ll come to get you for the return trip tomorrow. All right?” 

Teb happily agreed, and Aloy and Nil headed to Mother’s Rise to find Sona and Varl, the only two Nora that Aloy wanted to invite to the wedding and whom she thought might actually come. To Aloy’s wry amusement, Sona refused politely but firmly, stating that one visit to “that vast cursed city” was more than enough, and that she was needed here. Varl, on the other hand, immediately agreed to come… and the War-Chief grudgingly agreed to let him go, on the condition that Varl bring back some Oseram arrowheads with him, and that Aloy return to help train the Braves after the wedding was over.

As they left Mother’s Rise and strolled towards their Broadheads, Nil raised one eyebrow at her. “Do we have any other errands in the Savage East, Suntress?” 

Aloy smirked and shoved him playfully, but her reply was serious. “Yes. I have one more place to visit. Someplace I haven’t been in a while.” She looked up at Nil. “Will you come with me?” 

Nil gazed at her, all traces of humour gone from his face as he examined the seriousness of her expression. “Of course.” 

Aloy smiled faintly at him, but her chest was starting to hurt as she thought of the place they were about to go. It had been almost a year since she’d made this visit; the last time she’d come was when she and Nil were separated, when she’d felt so desperately lonely that she’d come back to the Sacred Lands longing for the comfort of the only other constant companion she’d ever had.

Aloy and Nil left their Broadheads behind and trekked up the mountains above Mother’s Heart by foot. It was late afternoon by the time they reached Aloy’s destination: a sturdy but lonely cabin, now slightly derelict from neglect, set deep in a snowy glen. As with every time Aloy had come here since the day after she’d woken up in the All-Mother Mountain after the Proving, it felt both familiar and horribly strange to be here; she’d grown up in this glen, in this cabin, but she hadn’t realized until it was too late that the notion of home wasn’t tied to a place. 

Slowly Aloy approached the cabin from the rear and collected some firewood from the now-dusty pile on the back porch. Nil followed her example, and together they walked around the cabin towards the campfire site so she and Nil could warm their frozen hands and feet. 

Nil’s eyes darted around curiously. “What is this place? Doesn’t seem like anyone’s here,” Nil commented. 

Aloy shook her head as she struck a flame onto some tinder, then began to build a fire. “No one lives here. It’s abandoned,” Aloy said bluntly. She was quiet as she carefully built the fire with Nil’s help. Once they had a merry blaze burning, Aloy sat quietly on one of the roughly-made log benches beside the fire and crossed her legs, just like she’d always done as a child in this same spot. 

Nil sat quietly beside her, and together they gazed into the flames for a while as they got warm. Then Nil turned to look at her, his face serious. “Suntress. What is this place?” 

Aloy swallowed hard. She was sure that Nil had guessed where they were by now, but she confirmed his hunch anyway. “This is where I grew up. This... is where Rost raised me.” She gave Nil a small half-smile. “I don’t know why I never brought you here before.” 

Nil didn’t reply; his frown deepened slightly as he continued to gaze at her. Aloy looked away from him to a point just down the path, past the fence that Rost had so carefully built all by himself while Aloy was a baby. “Rost’s grave is just down there. I thought…” 

She trailed off. She wasn’t sure exactly why she had brought Nil here. But ever since that restless night of dreams she’d had in Meridian, thoughts of Rost had been popping up in her mind at seemingly random times during the planning of the wedding: when Avad had told her about the traditional Carja exchange of gold bangles during the wedding ceremony. When she and Vanasha had mock-argued about Aloy’s refusal to consider wearing a veil. When Petra had mentioned the Oseram families forging something together for the new couple.

None of these moments had really had anything to do with Rost, and yet Aloy couldn’t help but think of him, and wonder what he would have thought of all this. 

Suddenly Nil spoke, his voice low and deep and soothing. “Asking ghosts for advice?” 

Aloy glanced at him with a tiny half-smile. “Something like that.” She shrugged dismissively, even as the lump in her throat swelled painfully. “It’s stupid. We didn’t need to come here.” 

Nil was quiet for a moment. Then Aloy felt the warm, gentle touch of his fingers on her temple as he carefully tucked a braid behind her ear. “Go talk to your ghost, Suntress. I’ll wait.” 

Aloy turned to him. Her eyes suddenly felt hot. “Come with me?” she whispered, and Nil nodded silently. Together they rose and padded quietly over to the place where Rost was buried. 

Aloy slowed down about five paces away from the grave and looked up at Nil, and Nil nodded once more and stopped, leaving Aloy to take the final few steps to the grave on her own. 

As usual when she visited, Aloy dropped to a crouch in front of the grave. She took a deep breath to steady herself before speaking. “Rost,” she murmured. “I’m… sorry I haven’t been back in a while. I’m still trying to figure out how to reactivate GAIA, and that’s been… keeping me busy. Travelling a lot.” 

She paused for a moment and toyed idly with a twig on the ground before speaking again. “I came because I wanted to tell you… I’m… getting married. His name is Nil.” Suddenly she grinned, an incongruous expression that confused her, since the predominant feeling in her chest right now was anything but happy. “I don’t know if you would like him. He’s not a Nora. We’re not even getting married in the Sacred Lands.” 

Aloy laughed suddenly, and a tear slipped down her cheek. “There are going to be so many people there, Rost. As many as a Nora festival. I wonder if you would have agreed to come… You loved the Sacred Lands so much. But… you’re the only person I really wish could be there.” 

Suddenly she sobbed, and roughly she wiped away the tears that were scalding her cold cheeks. She and Rost had never really spoken of emotions; Rost had always been too stern, and Aloy too focused. But the simple words shoving at her sternum right now - _I miss you_ \- were so painful that she wanted to howl. 

Suddenly she heard a soft crunching in the snow behind her, and Nil’s hot hand was on her shoulder. “Come here,” he whispered, and without hesitation, Aloy rose and buried her face in his chest. Nil’s mostly bare arms wrapped her in warmth and Aloy squeezed him tightly, her fingers clenched so hard in his vest that they hurt. They remained still for a long moment, until the shaking of Aloy’s shoulders stilled into calm, and breathing no longer felt like she was gulping air past a rock lodged in her throat. 

Eventually Aloy disentangled herself from Nil’s embrace and crouched again in front of the grave. “Rost, this is Nil. He’s going to be my husband. I know… maybe you would have been disappointed that he’s Carja. But I think you’d have been happy to know that… I have a family.” 

As soon as Aloy said the words, she realized how true it was. After losing Rost, she’d been deeply alone; independent but solitary in a way that had made her feel empty sometimes. But her travels had brought her a new kind of family that fit her better than any traditional one ever would have: a motley family that spanned lands and tribes. Erend, Vanasha, Avad and Petra, and all her other friends that she’d made along the way and who had bandied to her side to defeat HADES: they were her family now. 

And above them all, above everything, was Nil. He was more than her future husband. He was her true family, and her home.

Finally Aloy smiled, then stood up and gently brushed the snow from the grave. “Goodbye, Rost. I’ll come back as soon as I can.” Then she looked up at Nil. 

The corner of his lips lifted in his characteristic half-smile, and his beautiful silver eyes glittered with warmth. Gently he lifted a hand and flicked a strand of her hair over her shoulder. “Ready to go?” he asked quietly. 

Aloy took a deep breath and realized that somehow, she felt lighter than she had since they had first arrived in Meridian. She gave Nil a genuine smile. “Yes. I’m ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY if this chapter was unexpectedly sad… but in case you couldn’t tell from my other fics, Rost’s death really gets to me. His death, and his farewell to Aloy before the proving, make me cry every fucking time. I feel like it would have been remiss of me to write Aloy getting married without her thinking of Rost at all. 
> 
> Thoughts/comments always appreciated… I know many of you came here for the fluff, and this has been considerably more ANGST/SADS than promised… but I promise, the next chapters will be funnnnn! ;)


	5. Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aloy and Nil return to Meridian from the Sacred Lands to find the wedding plans have taken on a life of their own. Later, Talanah tells Aloy something VERY interesting about getting married.
> 
> A little tiny taste of NSFW smut.

Just over a week later, Aloy, Nil and Teb arrived back in Meridian after stopping briefly at Free Heap to pick up the item that Aloy had commissioned from Petra for the ceremony. The first thing Aloy noticed as they stepped into Meridian’s market was that there seemed to be more Oseram here than she had ever seen before. They all roared congratulations and bawdy insults at her and Nil as they jogged towards the palace. Aloy grinned and handed out a few friendly punches as she and Nil and Teb passed them by, but her nerves were starting to ratchet up again. She’d invited them all to come, but now that they were here… this was a _lot_ of people. 

But Aloy hadn’t even anticipated the half of it. 

The market had been busy, but the palace was _pandemonium_. Carja courtiers milled around everywhere, many of them people that Aloy had never seen before. She, Nil and Teb slowed to a decorous walk as they entered the palace, but Aloy could barely keep the horror from her expression as the people they passed either bowed and smiled to her and Nil, murmured their congratulations, or began whispering viciously as they walked by. Nil’s face had fallen into a blank mask again, and Teb was staring around in wide-eyed awe.

“Aloy, are all these people here to see you get married?” Teb asked in wonder. Aloy pursed her lips and shrugged bad-temperedly. She couldn’t see any other reason they would be here. 

She marched straight up to Avad’s pagoda, with Nil and Teb close on her heels. Avad, Marad, and Vanasha were speaking with Ligan from the Hunter’s Lodge, and Aloy joined them without hesitation. 

Her eyes honed onto Avad. “Who are all of these people?” she demanded. 

Avad’s brown eyes screamed apology as he faced her, but his face was regally composed. “Aloy! These are members of the Carja royalty and their attendants. It seems that word of your engagement has... spread faster than we anticipated. I’m afraid to say they’ve come for the wedding.”

“Why?” Aloy snapped. “They don’t even know me. And they barely know Nil.”

“Gossip,” Vanasha interjected succinctly. Avad shot her a rare glare before turning to Aloy, his hands extended slightly in supplication. “It’s common for the entire royal court to be present during a royal wedding,” he explained. “They’re here partly out of habit. And they _do_ know of you, Aloy - you saved our city twice, after all. No one has forgotten that.” 

“They’re also here because whether you like it or not, Aloy, this is a historic moment,” Marad interjected in a polite but ever-so-slightly pointed voice that only served to inflame her ire even further. “I know of no other inter-tribal union, at least not one that has ever been made official. Can you blame them for wanting to witness a moment in history?” 

Aloy took a menacing step closer to Marad. “This. Is not. A political. Event,” she told him slowly and clearly. “I refuse to make it so. Half of these people were whispering insults about Nil as we walked past them. I will _not_ have it.” She took a deep breath to calm her rage, then turned to Avad. “Give Vanasha a list of all the courtiers who have shown up. Nil and I will approve the ones who can come to the wedding. _You_ will send the rest away. Is this understood?” 

Vanasha covered her smirk with one hand, and Ligan smiled quietly to himself beside her. Marad bristled at Aloy’s authoritative tone, but Avad immediately bowed his head to her. “Of course, Aloy. And again, I apologize for their presence. And for their slights against Nil.” He nodded apologetically to Nil, who simply raised one eyebrow. 

Aloy sighed, then ran one hand through her hair and finally gestured graciously to Teb, who was standing behind Nil and trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. “I’d like to introduce you all to Teb. He’s the finest Stitcher among the Nora. He’s here to make my wedding gown.” 

Introductions were made, and Vanasha graciously kissed Teb on the cheek; they had met during the Battle of HADES. Then, to Aloy’s annoyed resignation, the wedding talk continued; Vanasha and Avad explained that they’d been speaking to Ligan about the organization of the wedding feast, which would be taking place at the Hunter’s Lodge as per Aloy’s wishes, and Avad and Vanasha enquired about Teb’s needs, which he outlined with deferential politeness. 

Finally, Marad turned to Aloy and Nil. “Have you decided yet where you wish the ceremony to take place?” he asked. 

Aloy and Nil looked at each other cluelessly for what felt like the millionth time. “Not yet,” Nil finally said. 

Marad gave them a faint smile and a half bow. “Please let me know as soon as you decide. We’ll need to make seating arrangements, set up security, decorations…”

 _Decorations? For what??_ Aloy wondered hysterically. Abruptly she changed the subject. “Marad, we won’t be doing vows. So you’ll need to come up with something to say in place of that.”

Marad and Avad made general exclamations of dismay. “What?” Vanasha said in high surprise. “Why not? I was looking forward to hearing what kinds of words of _love_ you two nuts would say to each other!” She stretched the word _love_ out in a teasing manner.

Aloy gave her a sharp smile that was all teeth and no amusement. “That’s exactly why we aren’t doing them. Now if you’ll excuse us, Teb is tired. I’m going to take him to his quarters.” Without waiting for their replies, she took Teb’s arm in a firm grip and led him away from the pagoda and down towards the guest quarters, with Nil drifting along behind her. 

“Wow,” Teb said in a hushed voice as they walked through the arched, airy halls towards the east wing of guestrooms. Aloy though he was talking about the Carjan architecture, but then he turned to look at her with a familiar but wearying look of admiration. “Aloy… the Sun-King treats you like you’re his Anointed too! That’s… amazing.” 

“Please, Teb, I can’t hear this right now,” Aloy said wearily. Her anger had burned out as soon as they had left the crowded public area of the palace, and now she just felt _tired_ again. Quietly she led Teb to a large suite that was down the hall from her own smaller suite that she shared with Nil. Aloy took the time to show the amenities to Teb, as she remembered how overwhelming her first night in the Carja palace had been; then, when Teb was somewhat settled in, with a palace servant hovering helpfully at his side and Aloy’s instruction to come to her if he needed anything, Aloy and Nil finally retreated to their own suite. 

The moment the door was closed, Aloy threw her weapons on the ground and leapt into Nil’s arms. He caught her instantly, and Aloy cradled his neck in her hands as she locked her legs around his waist. “Fuck me,” she demanded. 

Nil’s eyebrows jumped high on his forehead with surprise, and for what felt like the first time all day, Aloy smiled. She supposed his surprise was warranted; she rarely ever used his preferred swearword, but today, right now, she felt it _so badly_. She just wanted him to wipe her brain blank, shove out all the overwhelming wedding details and worries and _stress_. Aloy slid her fingers into his hair and arched her chest against his. “Come on, fuck me,” she said again, with just a hint of pleading in her tone this time. 

Nil finally gave her a feral grin, his silver eyes glinting. “With pleasure,” he purred, and then he took her lips in a fierce kiss. His teeth nipped at her bottom lip, and he unbuckled her Carja vest with one hand while supporting her weight with the other. 

Aloy gasped against his lips; the familiar spark of lust was igniting between her legs as Nil rubbed his hardness against her yielding heat. He tugged roughly at her vest, dragging it off her shoulders by force, and Aloy tore her blue cropped blouse over her head roughly and threw it on the floor before grabbing Nil’s face again and plunging her tongue into the heat of his mouth. 

Nil walked towards the bed and forced her hands away from his face, then threw her down on the bed. His hands were already working at his belt and sash as Aloy managed to push herself up on her elbows. “Strip,” he commanded, and Aloy hastily shoved off the rest of her clothes while Nil did the same. 

Seconds later, his hard body was looming over hers, his fingers stroking between her legs and his tongue stroking over her left breast, and Aloy arched into his touch with a gasp of delight and relief. With every pass of his fingers over the nub of her pleasure, every nip of his teeth on her taut nipples, her anxieties were falling away like glittering scales from a fish. Then Nil’s lips were hot on her neck, his cock hot and hard between her legs, and Aloy thought no more for a long, long time.

*******************

Days melted into weeks as the wedding date grew nearer. Nil felt like the wedding plans were encroaching on everything, like a fungus that was slowly and inexorably eating away at everything in its path. 

Suntress continued to be irritable and edgy. As the wedding date crept closer, she began snapping at him as well. When this happened, Nil just allowed her irritation to wash over him like rain over a spring leaf. He’d figured out through trial and error that if he remained quiet and still and just allowed her to rant, she’d wear herself out and eventually apologize. 

Nil’s passiveness in the face of her anger was also partly motivated by guilt. As much as he’d tried to give a shit about the wedding, he just… couldn’t. Suntress had been right from the start. He didn’t want a wedding, and he never had. He almost regretted asking her to marry him; if he’d known this much fucking fuss and this much interaction with other people was going to be needed, he might never have asked her. But deep down, Nil still wanted to be married to Suntress. He still craved that confirmation of being tied to her forever. Since they seemed to have no choice but to go through this farce to get there, Nil sucked up his Suntress’s whiplash tongue and beared it with a bestial grin as best as he could. 

The only part of the wedding planning that Suntress seemed to enjoy was having her dress made. She spent long hours with Teb, and Nil suspected she was enjoying his calm company (and hiding from Avad and Vanasha) more than the actual making of the dress. 

On one occasion, after suffering through a particularly long session of cutting the Carja guest list with Vanasha, Suntress paced around their suite ranting about how many decisions needed to be made about stuff she didn't care about at all. “I hate this,” she spat. “I’d much rather be hunting.”

“Machines or bandits?” Nil asked lazily. 

“Either!” she snapped. “Both at the same time!” 

This proclamation had been so attractive that Nil had immediately had his way with her, after which she seemed calmer.

Unfortunately, her calm didn’t last long; another decision needed to be made, another opinion about wedding-related things that Nil didn’t care about either, and Suntress would segue back into irritation. 

Nil could take it. It wouldn’t be long until this whole fucking masquerade was over. Then he and Suntress could get out of Meridian and return to their lives.

***************

Luckily for Aloy, the week of the wedding was occupied by a Carja wedding tradition that was right up her alley: the Bridal Hunt, a three-day hunting event where members of the Lodge competed to take down the most impressive machines in honour of the bride and groom. 

“In the past, this used to be a men-only event. Of course it was,” Talanah told Aloy flatly. “But I’d like to see someone try and stop this Sunhawk from hunting for her thrush. I'll take down two Rockbreakers in your honour.” 

Aloy gave a confident scoff. “Not if I take them down first,” she retorted.

Talanah grinned suddenly. “You're coming on the hunt?” 

Aloy frowned at Talanah and her other friends in surprise. “Why wouldn't I?” she asked. 

Aloy, Talanah, Nil, Vanasha and Erend were at the Hunter’s Lodge for a drink. Aloy had insisted on one single social outing _without_ wedding talk, but she unfortunately hadn't gotten her way; everyone’s thoughts just seemed to drift back to the wedding, much to her disgruntlement. 

Vanasha leaned back on the bar and tilted her head mock-pityingly at Aloy. “Brides don't go on the hunt. You wait in Meridian with the other women for the men to bring trophies back for you.” Vanasha’s dark eyes glittered with mischief as she anticipated Aloy’s response. 

Aloy didn't disappoint. She stood up straight, her small frame bristling with indignation. “Stay here and _wait_ for trophies to be brought to me? Not a chance,” she riposted. “ _I_ bring the trophies.” She turned to Nil belligerently. “I'll bring _you_ a trophy. And anyone who has a problem with that can come straight to me and see how good this bride’s aim is.” 

She paused as she realized that everyone was laughing; even Nil was smirking at her as he reached over and flicked back a lock of her hair. 

Once she’d finished laughing, Talanah said, “Vanasha’s right. Some hunters will probably complain if you come. But if you _don't_ come,” Talanah added as Aloy swelled with fresh indignation, “I’ll disown you as a thrush.” Aloy relaxed and she and Talanah grinned at each other; the two expert huntresses were the biggest fighters for equality at the Lodge. 

“We set out tomorrow at dawn after a Sun blessing on the couple,” Talanah continued. “You'll be able to scandalize everyone then by coming out with us.” Talanah punched Aloy companionably in the arm, then finished her tequila-and-lime and left to take care of some Lodge business. 

Vanasha smirked at Nil as she sipped her red wine. “So Aloy is going on the Bridal Hunt. Are you going to wait here with a gaggle of attendants for her to bring you trophies, then?” 

Nil raised one eyebrow at her. “No. I'm going hunting too.” 

Erend raised his eyebrows. “You're going on the Lodge hunt? I thought you didn't like machine hunting.” 

“I don't mean machine hunting,” Nil replied. “I heard tell of a bandit clan putting down roots a few kilometres north of Sunstone Rock. I'm going to rip them out branch by branch and strip the camp clean.” He grinned with relish. 

Aloy raised her eyebrows. “On your own?” He didn't usually clear camps without her. Small bands and stragglers, yes, but not camps. 

To her total surprise, Nil gave her a little smirk, then turned to Erend and Vanasha. “You can come if you want. Highest kill count wins.” 

Erend’s baby-blue eyes widened. “You… _want_ us to come bandit hunting with you?” he asked slowly. 

Nil shrugged, sipped his drink. “I didn't say that. I said you could come if you want.” He glanced at Vanasha. “If you have the courage.” He raised one eyebrow in challenge. 

Vanasha pursed her lips. “If we have the _stomach_ to go on a killing spree with you, more like,” she retorted, then tilted her head charmingly. “Thanks for the so-called invitation, Prince, but your wedding still needs arranging.” She shot a rueful glance at Aloy. “If you're both buggering off to hunt right before your wedding, someone will have to hold down the fort and make sure the wedding, you know. _Happens._ ”

Aloy shifted guiltily, but didn't reply. She felt bad leaving Vanasha to deal with everything, but she wanted to go hunting so badly. The wedding planning was making her feel like she wasn't _Aloy_ anymore - like she was just some vapid noble with all these fanciful arrangements revolving around her. She hated all the attention she was getting, and all for something that she didn’t even want. A normal activity like hunting would help her feel normal again.

But right now, she was fascinated by Nil’s unprecedented invitation to Erend. Erend seemed equally discombobulated; he tugged with confusion at his beringed earlobe, then finally gave a huge shrug and a grin. “You know what? Sure, what the hell. Let's go bandit hunting tomorrow,” he finally said, then gave Nil a firm slap on the back. 

Aloy grinned up at Nil as she slid along the bar to press against him. “Are you guys bonding?” she teased. 

Nil wrapped his arm around her shoulders and raised an eyebrow. “I don't _bond_ , Suntress. I compete. And I daresay I'll win.” Aloy smirked; no matter what Nil said, this was a spontaneous semi-social invitation, and Aloy appreciated Nil’s attempt to spend more time with her best friend, even if it was half-hearted.

“Ha! A challenge! I see how it is,” Erend laughed. “You're on, Carja. Loser buys the first three rounds afterwards.” 

Vanasha rolled her eyes. “We get it. You're men. You have cocks to wave around. But now, _we_ have an appointment.” She gave Aloy and Nil a pointed look. “The jeweller, remember?” 

Aloy heaved a heavy sigh. Some time ago, she and Nil had agreed to meet with the palace jeweller about some accessories for the wedding, but Aloy couldn't be bothered anymore to pretend enthusiasm. She and Nil each downed the rest of their Scrappersap, then Aloy bade Erend goodbye before she and Nil trailed after Vanasha back to the palace like disgruntled children. 

_Three more days and then this stupid charade is done._ Aloy repeated this phrase in her head like a mantra. In just three more days, she and Nil could go back to adventuring and discovering and hunting. 

She just hoped she could last that long without going crazy.

****************

Exactly as Talanah had predicted, Aloy’s decision to join the marital hunt raised many eyebrows and a few sexist complaints. However, Talanah’s forceful proclamation that _any_ hunter of the Lodge - including one who was a member of the bridal party - was entitled to join the hunt was enough to quiet the more pompous protesters to whispered grumbling. 

Aloy didn’t care about the grumbling. As always, she would show them her mettle with the strength of her deeds alone. 

The three days of the hunt were exhilarating; Aloy managed to forget completely about the wedding as she hunted to her heart’s delight. She started out easy with some Stalkers and Behemoths, but eventually a little idea wormed its way into her mind, and she decided instead to focus all her efforts on taking down as many of her favourite prey as possible. 

At the end of the hunt, two days before the wedding, Aloy and Talanah sat at the bar in the Hunter’s Lodge. As Talanah had sworn she would, she had taken down two Rockbreakers for Aloy, making her the winner of the Bridal Hunt. She would be formally presenting her trophies to Nil and Aloy at the wedding. 

Aloy sighed happily as she sipped her Scrappersap. “This was just what I needed,” she told Talanah. She gestured to her machine oil-spattered armour and her boots, splattered with mud and rust-red desert dust. “ _This_ is who I am. A machine hunter. Not some… idle person who sits around picking table linens and… and making seating arrangements. And being poked and prodded by jewellers and cobblers and… all the rest.” She shuddered, then sighed heavily, this time with resignation. “I can’t wait until this wedding is over. It just feels like an obstacle we have to get over so we can move on with our lives.” 

“Why _are_ you having such a big wedding?” Talanah asked. “I’m surprised you’re having one at all.”

“Well, we _want_ to be married,” Aloy explained. 

Talanah continued to gaze steadily at her as she sipped her drink. “Yeah. But why have a wedding?”

Aloy stared at her in mounting confusion. How else did Talanah expect them to get married? 

Talanah then raised her eyebrows as though Aloy was being ignorant. “Why don’t you guys just elope?” Talanah asked slowly. 

Aloy frowned even more deeply. “What’s a lope?” she asked suspiciously. Was that another damn thing she’d have to obtain for the wedding? Why hadn’t Vanasha said anything about it?

Comprehension suddenly washed across Talanah’s face, and she grinned widely. “Oh no. You don’t know about elopement? And nobody told you? Well, of course they didn’t. They all _want_ you to have a wedding.” Talanah cackled suddenly, then explained to a very confused Aloy, “Eloping is when the couple run away together and get married in secret. Sometimes you might bring some witnesses, but usually people elope without telling anyone. It actually happens pretty often among Carja nobility - you know, noble daughters wanting to marry soldiers, or noble sons wanting to marry merchant’s daughters, that kind of thing.” Talanah’s smile turned wicked. “Eloping would be perfect for you and Nil. The Carja prince and the Nora huntress? It’s like a fairytale.”

Aloy gaped at Talanah, her brain feeling fuzzy with shock. There was a way she and Nil could be married _without_ a wedding? “Why didn’t anyone tell me this?” she demanded. 

Talanah shrugged, still grinning as she sipped her drink again. “As I said, they all want you to have a wedding. The only people who _aren’t_ excited about your wedding are you and Nil.”

Anger started to simmer in Aloy’s chest. “You mean, they all knew this was an option and _they didn’t tell me?_ ” she sputtered. 

Talanah bit her lips, clearly trying hard not to laugh in the face of Aloy’s anger. “I assure you, the Carja all know about elopement. It’s practically as much of a tradition among the royalty as an actual royal wedding.” Talanah watched with a twinkle in her eye as Aloy began to turn red. 

“They all… and no one said…” Aloy could barely get words out through the vast wave of frustration that threatened to burst out of her in a scream. Finally she gulped her Scrappersap and slammed the tumbler down on the bar so hard that she made a nearby Banuk hunter jump. She stared at Talanah, her eyes bright and fierce. “Tell me _everything_ you know about eloping. Now,” she demanded. 

“Bossy, are we?” Talanah drawled, but she smirked and obliged. “As far as I know, it’s pretty straightforward. You just run away with your fiancé and find someone who’ll marry you. A sympathetic Sun Priest, maybe? Or any officiant in any town. And… that’s it.” She shrugged. “I don’t know personally know anyone who’s eloped, but I think that’s all there is to it.” 

Aloy drank in this information like a thirsty flower, then stood abruptly and grabbed her messy pile of trophies from the underneath her bar stool. “I have to go,” she said. She threw a handful of shards on the bar and squeezed Talanah’s shoulder quickly. “Have another drink on me. I owe you!” she yelled as she pelted out of the Lodge. 

She had to find Nil right away. 

****************

The door to the suite burst open with a loud bang. Nil turned to see Suntress standing in the doorway with a sack slung over her shoulder, covered in streaks of mud and machine oil. 

“Nil!” she exclaimed breathlessly. She slammed the door shut and chucked the sack onto the table with a clatter as she strode over to him. 

Nil dropped the arrow he was crafting and rose from the floor to meet her. She grabbed his vest and grinned up at him excitedly. “Let’s elope! It’s the perfect solution!” Then suddenly she frowned at him in suspicion. “Did you know that eloping existed? I didn’t know until today that it was a thing.” 

“Yes, I’ve heard of it,” he said vaguely. 

Suntress glared at him viciously. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she demanded. Nil watched warily as her ears began turning red. “We’ve been going through all this slagging wedding planning and you knew all this time that we could just run away and get married on our own?” 

Nil shrugged helplessly. “I _didn’t_ know we could do that. I thought it was for people who weren’t allowed to get married. Elopements seemed to be a very… gossip-worthy event among the courtiers.” He shrugged again, this time with boredom. That kind of talk, the interpersonal dramas and the gossip, had never been of any interest to him. 

“Well, we’re doing it,” Suntress announced belligerently. “It’s perfect for us. We both just want to be married, and we don’t want to share our feelings with everyone else. Right? Neither of us wants this wedding anyway.” 

Nil felt a leap of excitement in his chest. She was right on all counts. All he really wanted was to be married to her, and fuck the rest. “And we can be alone. Just the two of us,” Nil added. That was how Nil liked it best anyway: just him and Suntress alone, together against the world. Being stuck in Meridian around all these people during the past few weeks was starting to raise an uncomfortable restless feeling under his skin. He couldn’t wait to be back out in the wilds with her alone. 

Suntress nodded as well, but her enthusiastic smile was starting to fade as her grip on his vest lessened. Nil frowned and tipped up her chin with two fingers. “What’s wrong?”

She pursed her lips and looked up at him. “It’s just… everyone’s put so much work into this stupid wedding. Vanasha and Avad, and even Marad… can we really just… _not_ do it?”

“Of course,” Nil assured her. “We can do whatever we want.” But to his alarm, she looked even more uncertain. 

Then she sighed heavily and dropped her hands from his vest. “I don’t know… It’s in just two days. And people came from all over the Sundom and the Claim to be here.” She covered her face suddenly and groaned. “Varl is probably almost here. And we brought Teb all this way from Nora land…” 

“So what?” Nil demanded in exasperation. “We’re not getting married for them. It’s not _about_ them. It’s about us.”

“I know. But…” she replied. She gazed up at him, and her face was a picture of uncertainty. “It’s not _really_ about just us anymore, is it? It’s… it’s become a family thing.” She ran a hand through her hair, then tugged hard at a braid. Then she met his eyes again, and Nil didn’t like the hopeless expression on her face. 

“Nil… I think we have to go through with the wedding. Everyone’s worked so hard to make it happen and… it would be selfish not to do it.”

Nil frowned at her as his exasperation began to rise. First she offered him a shining, wonderful alternative to this insane farce of a wedding, and now she was going to take the option away? “You say this is a family thing. But _you’re_ my family,” he said. “I just want to be bound to you. I don’t care about the people coming from far away. They’re like infection being drawn to a wound. I want this because I want _you_. Why does the rest of it matter?”

Suntress gazed up at him, her eyebrows contracted in distress. “That’s why I want to be married too!” she argued. “You are my family. But so is Vanasha. And Avad, and Erend and Petra and Varl and Teb.”

Nil scowled at her and opened his mouth to argue, but Suntress took his face in her hands. “You’re the most important one, okay? You _are_. But they’re important to me too. You _know_ that, Nil. I can’t just disregard all the work they did to put this together.” She sighed heavily. “They’re so excited about the wedding…”

Nil didn’t reply. He turned away from her and walked moodily over to the table, then sat down heavily and toyed with the drawstring on the bag she’d slung onto the table. In a practical sense, he knew nothing had changed; the end result was still going to be that they were married. But now that Nil knew there was a better option, he couldn’t help but feel like something had been taken from him. 

“You said yourself, the wedding doesn’t feel right,” he grunted. “You said you felt like something was off. Eloping _feels_ right. Don’t you agree?” 

Slowly Suntress drifted over and sat across from him at the table. “Yes,” she admitted. “It feels more like… us.” She was quiet for a while, and eventually Nil lifted his eyes to look at her. She was gazing at him wistfully. 

“We have to do this wedding, Nil,” she said softly. “It’s just one day. And then we’ll go back to doing what we do best.” She reached around the bag on the table and took his hand. “Discovery and death.” 

Nil shrugged grumpily. He still felt disappointed, but he squeezed her fingers in response. They were both quiet for a moment. 

“What’s in the bag?” Nil said finally. 

“Oh,” Suntress said. She released his hand, then tipped the contents of the bag out onto the table. With a noisy clatter, six square objects spilled onto the table: large machine parts about the size of Nil’s two hands, criss-crossed with shining gold lines and dangling with torn wires. 

Nil picked one up and examined it with mild curiosity. “Trophies from the hunt?”

“Yeah. They’re Stormbird hearts,” Suntress explained. 

Nil looked across the table at her. Her smile was wry, but her brilliant gold-and green eyes were soft and tender. Nil’s heart skipped a beat at the intensity of love in her face. 

“You took down six Stormbirds?” he asked dumbly. Clearly she had; the evidence was on the table before him. 

She nodded. “I would have gotten more, but I ran out of time.” Then she tugged a braid and shrugged, suddenly looking awkward. 

Nil stared at her in amazement. “Wouldn’t that qualify you to challenge Talanah’s status as the Sunhawk of the Lodge?” he asked slowly. 

Suntress shrugged. “Maybe. But I don’t want to be the Sunhawk.” Finally she looked at him. “I got them for you.” 

“For me?” Nil repeated, and she nodded, then tugged her braid again, looking even more awkward. “Maybe it was a dumb idea. I know they’re not useful to us. It’s not like we want to be carrying around a bunch of machine parts we don’t need. You can just sell them in the market if you want…” 

As she babbled nervously, Nil suddenly understood. His chest throbbed painfully with a swell of white-hot affection as he looked at her biting the inside of her cheek nervously. The Stormbird hearts scattered across the table were extremely valuable, representing three days’ worth of hunting, a fortune’s worth of shards, and almost certainly enough of a claim to dethrone the current Sunhawk of the Hunter’s Lodge. 

And Suntress was offering them to him as a token of love.

Nil stood from the table and pulled her up from her seat, then lifted her up and wrapped her legs around his waist. “They’re perfect,” he told her. 

She relaxed instantly and slid her arms around his neck. “I thought you might think it was dumb,” she said with a sheepish smile. “I’ve never gotten you a present before. You never really want anything.” 

Nil shook his head. “They’re perfect,” he repeated. “And how many times do I have to tell you, Suntress? I have everything I’ve ever wanted in my arms right now.” He slid one hand up to twine into her hair as he cradled the back of her neck tenderly. 

She grinned at him, her face alight with happiness, and lowered her face to his for a kiss, but he pulled back slightly to look at her. She paused and eyed him quizzically. 

Nil smiled slowly at her. “We might have to come up with vows after all. I know what we should do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any guesses as to what might happen? :D 
> 
> Also, I definitely see Talanah as a tequila kind of girl.


	6. Vows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day before the wedding, Aloy and Nil put Nil's little plan into action. 
> 
> A/N: NSFW smut. <3

**The afternoon before the wedding…**

“Happiest wishes to you both, huntress!” 

“Don’t hammer her bolts in too tight there, Nil! Aloy needs to be fresh for the forge tomorrow!” 

“May the Sun shine on your happiness together, my noble Nora!” 

Aloy smiled at the polite Carja wishes and made playful rude hand gestures at the more bawdy Oseram ones as she and Nil walked through the market towards the Great Elevator. All the attention they were getting suddenly felt much more tolerable since Nil had come up with his excellent plan, which they were on their way to enact right now.

At that moment, a familiar and welcome voice hailed her. “Aloy!” 

Aloy turned and smiled at Varl as he strode over to her and Nil. “Varl, you made it! It’s good to see you.” She grasped his forearm in welcome. 

Varl nodded politely to Nil as he squeezed her forearm. Then he looked down at her arms and Nil’s with wide eyes. “Wow! I’ve never seen you with any kind of body paint. Is this for the wedding?”

Aloy glanced at her hands. “Yeah. It’s a Carja tradition,” she explained, with a rueful glance at Nil. Early that morning, she and Nil had both submitted to having intricate patterns of flames and lines and circles painted on their hands and wrists with a plant-based dye mixed with molasses. After forcing the couple to wait for an impatient hour for the dye to set, the body artists had washed the sticky residue away, leaving behind a deep maroon tattoo that was supposed to fade away after a week or so. Marad and Vanasha together had managed to convince Aloy and Nil that having the sacred marital patterns of the Sun Faith painted on their arms would head off a lot of pointed questions among the more stuffy Carja courtiers. Aloy hadn’t been looking forward to the ritual, but she had to admit that the artistry of the ornate patterns was impressive. She knew that Nil had _hated_ the ritual, but he’d tolerated it because Aloy had insisted that the artists work on them together, instead of in separate rooms as was traditional.

Varl’s eyes widened further. “Wow,” he said again. “Are you… are the Carja adopting you as one of their tribe, then?” 

Aloy frowned at the worry on his face. “Come on, Varl. I don’t really belong to any tribe, so no one can adopt me. It’s just a ritual. But it’s nice, isn’t it?” 

Varl nodded, his eyes still wide as he perused her hands with fascination. “It is. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. I think it’s going to be eye-opening. A real Carja wedding!” 

Aloy shot Nil a furtive glance before smiling at Varl. “I hope you'll enjoy it,” she replied blandly. “Anyway, Varl, we have some errands to run. But go ahead to the Sun-King’s palace and get comfortable. You’re staying in the east wing, same as us and Teb.”

Varl stared at her, and Aloy was fairly sure his eyes were going to pop out of his head if they got any wider. “The Sun-King’s palace?” he said faintly. “I’m... staying in the Sun-King’s palace?”

“Yes, just tell them I sent you,” she said impatiently as she took Nil’s hand and started to walk away. “And look for Erend. He’ll show you around. I’ll see you tomorrow!” 

Aloy and Nil made their way down to the village and then walked to the edge of the jungle. Aloy summoned two Striders, and she and Nil rode out to the Spearshafts. It was late afternoon when they reached their destination: a tall, lonely mesa with a gorgeous view of Meridian. 

They dismounted their Striders, and Aloy looked up at Nil. “Are you ready?” she asked. 

Nil gently tucked one braid behind her ear, and Aloy could feel her excited pulse thudding in her throat as she gazed into his glittering silver eyes. “I’ve never been more ready,” he replied. 

Aloy grinned at him. She felt exactly the same way. “I’ll race you,” she said, then vaulted onto the first handhold on the mesa. She heard Nil’s chuckle just behind her as she scrabbled up the mesa as quickly as her hands and feet would carry her. 

As always, Aloy beat Nil with just a few seconds to spare. She punched the air triumphantly as Nil pulled himself onto the top of the mesa with a wry grin, then turned with a smile as she heard a feminine laugh behind her. 

“You two look happy,” Luka said with a smile as she rose from her sitting position on the ground. She’d set up a small tent on top of the mesa, complete with a campfire. 

Aloy beamed at her, and Nil replied, “Of course we’re happy. Meridian is so noisy, and it’s nice and quiet up here. You can hear the victory chant of your own blood pulsing.” He looked around at the jungle and the open sky with a happy sigh. 

Aloy playfully smacked him in the chest. “ _That’s_ why you’re happy to be here? Because it’s quiet?” she demanded. 

Nil grinned and pinched her waist, making her jerk away with a smile. “No. I’m happy because here, in the place where _you_ first said ‘no’ to me and broke my heart, now you’re going to say yes.” 

Luka raised one eyebrow questioningly. “I think that’s a story I need to hear if I’m going to marry the two of you.” 

Aloy laughed giddily and explained to Luka about Nil’s misguided invitation to duel Aloy to the death, back before they’d started travelling together. Luka laughed and shook her head fondly. “You know what, that doesn’t surprise me. But I’m glad you said no. If you hadn’t, we wouldn’t all be here now.” She beamed at them both. 

Aloy smiled back and squeezed Nil’s hand excitedly as Luka gently directed them to hold hands and stand facing each other in front of the campfire. Luka was the perfect choice to help them elope: as a shaman, she was qualified to officiate their marriage, and as a close friend who had never judged Nil for any of his eccentricities, Aloy and Nil both felt comfortable exchanging their heartfelt vows in front of her. 

Luka quickly ducked into the tent and picked up a small satchel, then pulled a blue Banuk wire from the satchel as she returned to stand beside Aloy and Nil. “Now remember, this is the first marriage I’ve ever officiated,” Luka warned them. “So if I sound clumsy, that’s why.” 

Aloy shook her head. “Doesn’t matter,” she said vaguely as she looked up at Nil’s handsome face. His expression was utterly serious as he stared down at her, his silver eyes as focused and hot as a fire arrow, and the intensity of his gaze was making her feel lightheaded and giddy. 

“All right,” Luka said, and cleared her throat nervously; Aloy shot her an encouraging smile, and Luka returned it before straightening her posture and raising her chin confidently. 

“Hunters,” she announced in a strong voice that made a shiver run down Aloy’s back. “You stand here today because you’ve proven yourselves worthy of each other. Ruthless elements, cold-blooded machines and hot-blooded foes have thrust themselves upon you, and here you stand, vanquishers proud and tall, to swear your strength to each other.”

Luka raised the blue Banuk cord in her hands. “With the binding of this sacred cord, you promise to hold each other high. To support each other in harsh times and to enhance each other’s strength. Do you swear yourselves to this?” 

Aloy gazed into Nil’s eyes and saw her own conviction mirrored there. “Yes,” they both said in unison. 

Luka lowered the cord and smiled at them. “Exchange your vows, and then I’ll tie the cord.” Luka had told them that the Banuk didn’t write their own vows, but she was happy to incorporate their wishes into the otherwise Banuk ceremony.

“I’ll go first,” Aloy said quickly. She was suddenly nervous, and she wanted to say her piece before her nerves got the best of her. She took a deep breath, then looked up into the endless depths of Nil’s luminous eyes. 

“Nil. When we first met, I thought you were kind of creepy,” she blurted, and Luka coughed out a laugh while Nil smirked. Aloy squeezed his hands with an affectionate smile, then continued. “But there was something about you… your thoughtfulness and intelligence, that intrigued me. It made me want to know you better. And… I can't tell you how glad I am that I did.” 

Aloy paused and bit her lip, then looked up at Nil again, her face as serious now as his. “People are more than just their histories, and nobody has taught me that more clearly than you. There has always been more to you than meets the eye… and every day, I’m thankful for the privilege of really _seeing_ you. I love everything I see: every bloodthirsty, brilliant, antisocial, tender, dominant and caring part of you. I love it all.” 

Aloy stopped and took a deep breath to steady her suddenly trembling voice. “As you already said, this is the place where I first said ‘no’ to you. But now, without a doubt in my mind, I'm saying _yes_ : yes to having you as my partner in adventure, my own Carja killer, and my husband.” She looked deeply into the heat of Nil’s pale grey eyes and squeezed his hands. “I would lay every Stormbird heart in the world at your feet if I could. But I hope that giving my heart to you forever is enough.” 

Nil’s eyes shone in the fading light of the day as he squeezed her fingers, and Aloy beamed at him. She was trembling with the effort of _not_ pressing herself against the heat of his skin and soaking in the adoration that was burning in his face. 

Nil glanced at Luka. “My turn?” he said gruffly, and Luka gave him a tiny nod and a smile. 

He turned back to Aloy, and the corner of his lips lifted in that heart-wrenchingly beautiful half-smile that she loved so much. “Suntress. Before I met you, I moved through a world of black and white, living only for the blood-red splashes of joy that tried so desperately to elude me. Then you appeared, and suddenly I lived for a different shade of red. You’re an exploded canister of blaze, splashing everything I see with furious passion and unshakeable curiosity. The time before I met you is as grey as ash, washed away by the rain of sparks that follows in your wake. The machine whisperer, whispering metal secrets and metal death, whispered a song into my ear that I’ll happily follow until the day my bones crumble to dust.” 

Nil’s smiled faded back to seriousness, and Aloy’s heart pounded as he rubbed his thumbs gently over the backs of her hands. “When we first met, you were guarded. Suspicious. And for good reason - the outcast girl, shunned for the crime of being born. But still, you took a risk. Peeled back your armour and exposed yourself to a killer. You opened yourself to me, and the view on the other side of that door is… breathtaking. It’s a view I never knew I was missing until I met you.” 

Suddenly Nil shook his head and smiled as though at a private joke, and when he looked at her again, his gaze was more intense than ever. “I have no idea why you chose me when every man from the Sacred Lands to the Sundom would flay their bones bare for you, but I’m never letting you go.” Then Nil reached forward to tuck one of Aloy’s braids behind her ear, and Aloy had to force herself to breathe around the balloon of emotion filling her chest. 

Nil smiled slowly at her. “My humble heart may be blackened with the clotted blood of all the enemies I've slain… but for what it's worth, it belongs to you. Forever.”

Aloy beamed at him as a sudden tear slid down her face. “I love you,” she whispered. 

Nil squeezed her hands again as he replied. “Love doesn’t even begin to cover it, Suntress.” 

Aloy laughed and wiped her face briskly as Luka gently cleared her throat. “All right, I’m going to tie the cord now,” she told them, and quickly she wrapped the Banuk cord around Aloy’s and Nil’s hands. Then she gently rested her hands on theirs. 

“With this sacred cord, I bind these two hunters together for eternity. Let the songs of the wilderness lift them high in their wisdom, and let no trials or foes sunder this bond.” She paused for a moment, then carefully she unwrapped their hands and grinned at them. “Congratulations! You’re married!” 

Aloy wasn’t sure whether she or Nil was the first to move, but suddenly they were entangled in a fierce embrace. One of Nil’s arms was around her waist, his hand was cradling her face, and his full lips were tasting hers with such fierce passion that Aloy wanted to cry at the perfection of this moment. Instead she laughed, a delighted laugh that echoed out over the mesa, announcing her uninhibited joy to the jungle beyond. 

“I love you,” she whispered against Nil’s cheek. Somehow those words felt so weak now, lacking the power to convey the thunderhead of emotion roiling in her chest. How could a single simple word like _love_ be expected to encompass the ferocious possessiveness she felt as she ran her fingers through his midnight hair, that sweet rush of euphoria she felt at the knowledge that Nil was truly hers forever?

As always, Nil’s reply put hers to shame. “That ‘yes’ from your lips was the sweetest music I've ever heard. I'll never forget it.” Tenderly Nil cupped her cheek and gazed into her eyes. “Burn this moment into your memory, Suntress. This is the moment that marks the rest of our lives, just you and me.” 

“I will,” she whispered, then tilted her chin to accept another tender kiss from his lips.

Eventually Aloy gently pulled away from Nil’s embrace and turned to hug Luka, who was waiting patiently on the other side of the fire. “Thank you,” she said to her Banuk friend. “This was perfect. It was exactly what we wanted.” 

Luka smiled at her as Nil also briefly hugged her in thanks. “It was my honour, really,” she said. Then her smile became mischievous. “I left something for you two by the fire. You don't have to look at it tonight, but you might be happy for it tomorrow. I’ll see you both in Meridian.” She squeezed Aloy’s arm once more, then jogged over to the rappel point and disappeared into the encroaching darkness. 

Aloy frowned curiously as Luka disappeared, then looked up at Nil, but her curiosity was almost instantly wiped away by the intent look on Nil’s face. “Do you want to see what she left us?” Aloy asked breathlessly. 

Nil shook his head and slowly stepped close to her. “No. I only want one thing.” 

A ripple of anticipation ran over Aloy’s skin. “Yeah? What’s that?” she teased, though her pulse was already picking up at the potent combination of tenderness and raw sex in his expression.

Nil stepped even closer until his chest was almost touching Aloy’s - _almost_ , but not quite. He slid his hand from her hip up over her bare waist, then over her shoulder blade and up to the back of her neck. Slowly he wound his fingers in her hair.

Aloy’s breath hitched in her throat as she allowed him to carefully pull her head back with his fist in her hair. Gently, so gently it was almost unbearable, Nil skimmed his nose along the length of her vulnerably exposed throat, then brushed his lips delicately against her ear. “I want to see my wife,” he whispered in her ear. “Take off your clothes.” 

A red-hot wave of desire poured over her, and Aloy had to force herself to inhale as she tilted her neck to the side in a wordless plea for Nil’s lips. The slow, careful kisses he placed along her jawline and the tendon in her neck pulled a whimper of desire from her throat, and she reached eagerly for his belt buckle. 

But Nil grabbed her hands and leaned away from her throat. “You first,” he said authoritatively.

Aloy bit her lip with frustration and lust, but she stepped away from Nil and unbuckled her vest. “Don’t start thinking you can boss me around now that we’re married,” she joked as she tossed her vest on the ground. 

Nil sat on a low boulder, his eyes glittering in the firelight as he watched her. “Only in this. Because I know how much you like it.” He gave her a slow, smug smile. 

Aloy smiled back and lowered her eyes coyly as she dropped her belt pouches on the ground. She didn’t bother to reply; he was right. Here, in the arena of their lust, she had complete trust in Nil’s control. 

When she was wearing only her cropped silk blouse and leggings, Aloy turned her back to him. Slowly and teasingly she pulled her blouse over her head and allowed it to fall gently from her fingers. Then, without turning to look at him, she slowly rolled her leggings down over her hips and thighs, then kicked them away. When she was fully nude, she swept her hair to one side and turned her head to look coyly at him over her shoulder. 

Nil was leaning forward eagerly, his elbows resting on his spread knees, and the look of pure hunger on his face challenged her willpower. _But two can play at the control game,_ Aloy thought mischievously, and with faux nonchalance she tossed her hair back over her shoulder and took a step away from him. 

“Where are you going?” he growled, and Aloy bit back a smile. “The sun is setting. We should enjoy it,” she replied cheekily as she continued to walk away.

She heard the soft tread of his footsteps behind her, and then his hard body was pressed against her back, the heat of his palm on her belly to hold her close. “Sunset, hmm?” he murmured into her ear. “You’re not fooling anyone. I know you prefer the sunrise.” 

“Sunsets are nice too,” Aloy retorted, then she gave a tiny gasp as Nil nudged his silk-clad hardness against her bottom. His hand slid slowly up her belly to cup the underside of her breast. “How’s this for _nice?_ ” he purred into her ear. 

Aloy swallowed hard as his thumb stroked the sensitive skin just below her nipple. “It’s okay, I guess,” she managed to say, then her head fell back against his shoulder in bliss as he suddenly pinched her nipple. 

“Only ‘okay’? I must be slipping,” Nil purred. Gently he slid his hand up from her breast to encircle her throat lightly, while his other hand slid over her hip to stroke her thigh. 

Aloy closed her eyes dreamily as she savoured the calluses of Nil’s palm sliding over the tender skin of her leg. She could feel the pulse in her neck beating rapidly against Nil’s thumb. Then she gasped and bucked her hips instinctively as his fingers lightly grazed over the wetness between her legs. 

“This doesn’t feel like I’m only doing ‘okay’,” Nil taunted softly. He lightly traced her earlobe with his tongue, then whispered in her ear: “Get into the tent. Now.” Swiftly he turned their bodies so they were facing the tent, then he gently pushed her towards the small shelter. 

“Bossy,” Aloy muttered to herself, but without any rancour whatsoever; she was already lifting the tent flap to slip inside. She kneeled on the fox-fur blanket that lined the ground and waited with mounting impatience for Nil to join her. 

When Nil finally lifted the tent flap to reveal his crouching form, a bolt of pure lust speared her heart. He was naked, and the sharp planes of his muscles were silhouetted from behind by the firelight. The length of his manhood jutted proudly towards her, and Aloy’s gaze stuck shamelessly on his cock as he slid into the tent. Without hesitation he crawled towards her, forcing her from her kneeling position to lean back on her hands. 

“Come here,” he whispered, and he lifted her bottom and slid her underneath his body before capturing her lips again with his. 

Aloy melted gratefully into his kiss as his hot tongue tangled with hers. Hungrily she smoothed her hands along his upper back and shoulders before cradling his neck in her palms, her nails scratching lightly at his scalp in the way she knew he liked. 

But sooner than Aloy wanted, Nil pulled away from their kiss. She frowned and murmured a wordless complaint, but Nil hushed her by gently brushing his lips along her collarbone, then slowly along the line of her sternum. 

Aloy bit her lip and folded one arm behind her head so she could watch Nil as he slowly slid his lips along the curve of her ribs. His fingers drifted gently over her skin in the wake of his mouth, and a sudden wave of tenderness washed over her at the delicacy of his touch. He wasn’t so much kissing her as carefully caressing his lips across the expanse of her body. His movements were leisurely and slow, as though he was tasting the slight concave of her belly without any goal in mind. 

Then Nil’s deep, thoughtful voice rumbled against her navel as his lips continued their foray across her abdomen. “Your skin is so fucking soft. How does such a fierce huntress have skin this soft?” 

Aloy smiled and stretched her arms leisurely as she reveled in his hypnotic touch. “I’m not fighting any battles with my belly,” she retorted. Then she arched her back suddenly and bit her lip as Nil’s mouth travelled slowly lower, to the border of the red-and-gold curls between her legs. 

“Aren’t you, though?” Nil murmured. “The golden plains of your skin have always been extremely distracting to me. That’s a battle tactic if ever I saw one.” He slid his fingers along the velvet-soft skin on the inside of her thigh, then followed his fingers with the exquisitely gentle brush of his lips. 

Aloy opened her mouth to argue that this was hardly fair - Nil was always essentially half-naked, after all - but all words were driven from her mind as he brushed his lower lip lightly against the swollen bud of her pleasure. Aloy inhaled sharply through her nose and clenched her fingers in the fox-fur blanket as a wave of exquisite desire flowed down her throat and into her abdomen, making her feel dazed. 

Nil continued the excruciatingly light touch of his full lower lip over her clit, then he lapped gently at her slick folds as though he was simply enjoying her taste. The slow, leisurely movements of his mouth between her legs were a sharp contrast to the rising urgency that was starting to roil in Aloy’s core. Helplessly she lifted her hips towards his mouth in a wordless plea for _more_ , even though she knew this would probably prompt him to back off, contrary as he always was. 

Sure enough, Nil lifted his mouth from her pussy and shot her a heated look, his lips curling into a smirk. “You’re so fucking sweet. How does such a mouthy huntress taste so sweet?” 

Aloy managed to gasp out a laugh, but then Nil resumed the slow, sinuous strokes of his tongue along the length of her cleft and over her taut nub, and she couldn’t be bothered to think of a suitable reply. Words barely existed anymore; all she could think about was the pressure building at the apex of her thighs and the _lack_ of pressure that Nil was giving her with his delicate touch. 

She let out a frustrated moan and undulated her hips up towards his mouth, and to her relief, Nil didn’t pull away teasingly this time. He murmured approval as the movement of her hips pressed her pussy closer to his face, and obligingly he smoothed his tongue more firmly over her wetness. 

“Yes,” she gasped, and undulated her hips again, craving the firm stroke of his tongue. Within seconds she was thrusting against his mouth in a smooth rhythm, helped by his strong hands curved around her thighs, and her climax was gaining strength with every roll of her hips against his tongue. Finally, just when Aloy thought her gasping breaths wouldn’t support her anymore, her climax crested and shattered, and a guttural cry was torn from her throat as she arched one last time against Nil’s mouth. 

Lights were still bursting behind her eyelids when she felt Nil’s weight looming over her, but Aloy pushed at his chest to make him sit back. “I want to be on top,” she said breathlessly, and hastily she straddled him, her hands gripping his shoulders as she undulated her hot centre over the rock-hard length of his erection. 

Nil hissed his pleasure through clenched teeth, then gripped the back of her neck and pressed his forehead to hers as she continued to slide her slick heat along the length of his cock. “Aloy,” he panted, “I want you. Now.” 

“I’m yours,” she whispered back, and swiftly she reached down and guided him into her heat. Nil gasped against her ear, and Aloy gasped as well at the exquisite sensation of fullness as he sheathed himself completely inside of her. 

Aloy wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders and pressed her cheek against Nil’s as she began to ride him in a slow, smooth rhythm. Nil wrapped one strong arm tightly around her waist to guide her, and she felt a fierce rush of tenderness at the ragged sound of his breathing. With every thrust of his cock, every broken sound of pleasure from his lips, the feeling of adoration in Aloy’s chest continued to swell until it was almost unbearable. Right now, they were pressed together so closely that even their sweat melded together indistinguishably, but Aloy couldn’t help but feel that _close_ just wasn’t close enough with this man. 

Aloy picked up her speed and began to ride him harder. “You’re tied to me forever now, Carja,” she whispered breathlessly in his ear. “No matter what happens, you’re mine.” 

Nil groaned and shuddered, and then he turned his face to press his forehead against hers again as he met her thrust for driving thrust. “Yes,” he panted. “You’re mine too, Suntress. You got that?”

“Always,” Aloy gasped, and then she felt a surge of delicious pressure in her core as Nil became even harder with his impending climax. He shuddered again, and then his lips were devouring hers, his moan of pleasure muffled by his tongue in her mouth as he came. 

As the tremor of Nil’s shoulders stilled, Aloy smiled and started to shift off of his lap, but Nil grabbed her hips. “Not just yet,” he growled. He gently pushed her sternum until she was leaning back, then he reached between their bodies and lightly rubbed her clit with his thumb. 

Aloy gasped as the combined sensation of his still-hard cock and his gentle thumb struck a new chord of pleasure in her body. A slow, lazy spiral of ecstasy in her core began to swirl in time with Nil’s teasing thumb and the deeper pleasure of his slowly grinding cock, and then the spiral shattered, forcing another cry of completion from Aloy’s throat as she climaxed for the second time. 

As her body stilled and her heart rate began to slow, Aloy leaned forward and slung her arms around Nil’s neck again, savouring his orange-scented heat despite the stickiness of their sweat. She smiled as Nil turned his face into her neck and tasted the salt of her skin with his tongue. “I want to stay here forever,” she whispered. 

Nil slowly slid his hand up her back and into the tangle of her hair. “On this mesa?” he asked lazily.

Aloy shook her head gently. “No. Wrapped in your arms like this. I want to do this in every corner of the world.”

“All right. We’ll do it,” Nil murmured. “We’ll travel everywhere.” 

Aloy’s heart swelled anew with a fresh wave of affection, and she pulled back slightly to smile at Nil. “Everywhere? Even to the Forbidden West?”

“Farther than Sunfall,” Nil confirmed. “We’ll brave the white deserts beyond.”

Aloy tenderly stroked back the damp strands of hair from his forehead. “What about across oceans?” she asked.

“Easy. We’ll take a boat,” Nil said promptly. The deep, soothing tone of his voice was playful, but his eyes were serious in the dim light of evening. “Or we’ll ride a Stormbird. Why haven’t we ever tried that before?”

Aloy cradled his neck in her hands and stroked his jaw with her thumb. She felt like she was going to burst with happiness. “We’ll try it,” she said decisively. “When the wedding is over.” 

Nil smiled at her, and his silver eyes glittered. “We’ll go everywhere when this wedding is over. And we’ll fuck on every mesa we find.”

Aloy laughed, then kissed Nil with all the passion she could muster. In this moment of post-coital bliss, planning playfully for an adventure-filled future with her new husband, Aloy had never been happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nloy fam: THANK YOU ALL for your patience!! I kept on changing my mind about certain things with this chapter and the next, and whether this chapter and the next should be separate or one huge chapter, etc etc etc. ALSO, GUYS, it is hard to write vows for two people. Even people who are so crazy in love like our Niloy. I still don’t know if I did them justice… And also coming up with Banuk wedding rites... *laughs hysterically and then lies down on the couch*
> 
> +100 AP (awesome points) to Mrs_Mimi - you guessed it almost perfectly!! I hope you enjoyed the location I picked for the elopement, though! xo
> 
> Next up: the party… ;) Stay tuned! The next update shouuuuuuuld come faster than this one.


	7. Stormbird Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aloy and Nil hurry back to Meridian for the wedding, and find an _interesting_ way of coping with all the attention they’ll get at the reception. Total shenanigans ensue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: TW for the use of (albeit fictional) psychotropic substances. Reference to the “Acquired Taste” errand with Brin, which I am utterly fascinated by and can be watched [here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0Sj0j2wTNY&t=2s)
> 
> Also, NSFW smut. 
> 
> Also, this chapter is extremely long. Guys, things went to a weird and mystical place here. Forgive me if you hate it...

**The morning of the wedding…**

Nil woke early, before the sun had risen. His eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness until he could pick out the individual strands of Suntress’s hair, dyed dark by the early hour. He closed his eyes again and lazily enjoyed the slow in-and-out of her breathing and the unconscious tensing of her fingers twined in his as she dreamed. 

Nil was a pragmatic man; he didn’t believe in fanciful ideas of spirits or souls. But somehow, even though nothing had changed in the practical sense, Nil felt more connected to Suntress than before. He hadn’t forgotten her warnings that they might sometimes have to be separated temporarily if their goals pulled them in different directions. But now, he felt comforted to know she _wanted_ to be tied to him, and for him to be tied to her, no matter where their travels might take them. They were connected by an invisible cord that would join them across distances vast or small.

 _Husband and wife._ These were words Nil had always scorned, as their meaning was premised entirely on human connection - that nebulous concept that he’d never understood or cared about. And then Suntress had erupted into his life. It still stunned him to think that in the space of just a couple short years, his entire perspective on what he wanted had changed so dramatically. Nil had shifted from a solitary creature of death to one half of a formidable, passionate whole. And he would never look back. 

As the darkness outside the tent began to lighten, he gently untangled his fingers from Suntress’s and stroked his hand along her side until she murmured sleepily and opened her eyes. “It’s your favourite time of day,” Nil whispered. “Do you want to get up?” 

She smiled slowly and nodded, then rolled onto her back and stretched. Nil watched greedily as the luxuriant movement of her arms lifted her breasts above the edge of the fox-fur blanket. He couldn’t resist tracing his tongue over the swell of her breast and tasting one taut nipple. 

She arched gracefully into his mouth and sighed. “ _Mmm_. Do you want me to get up, or do you want me here?” she asked, her voice still scratchy with sleep. In the low light or morning, Nil could just make out the teasing smirk on her face.

Nil smirked back at her. Why was she always so fucking tempting? “Both,” he purred. “But for now… let’s get up. I’ve never seen the sunrise from here. And neither have you.” 

She smiled widely. “Spoilsport,” she teased, then pushed off the blanket and crawled out of the tent, looking as alert and sprightly as though she’d been awake for hours. 

Nil pulled on his pants and then slipped out of the tent to find her standing naked near the edge of the mesa facing east. Her eyes were narrowed slightly as she surveyed the horizon. Despite her nudity, she looked just as fierce and confident as she did when she was fully armoured, and a huge throb of affection tugged at his heart. He swallowed hard to compose himself, then slid his arm around her bare waist to pull her close and turned his face towards the horizon. 

Suntress’s eyes were bright with anticipation as she watched the first timid rays of the sun breaking over the treetops, but Nil was more interested in watching her. From the corner of his eye, he admired the capricious play of sunlight across her face; her cheeks and nose were tinted first with burnished rose, then apricot, then gold as the sun rose. She narrowed her eyes and shaded her forehead with one hand, and Nil had to swallow again as his throat was constricted anew by the force of his feelings. 

Once the sun was above the treeline, Nil pulled her to face him. Emotion was pressing at the back of his tongue, but somehow he felt like the words would lose their meaning if he kept saying them all the time. So he fell back on witticisms instead. “I knew you preferred sunrise over sunset. You’re a terrible liar,” he drawled. 

She laughed, and Nil happily inhaled the scent of the winterfresh that she must have chewed after slipping out to the tent. “Nothing gets past you,” she retorted with a saucy tilt of her head. Then her gaze drifted to the remains of last night’s fire.

“Luka’s gift! I almost forgot!” she said suddenly, and she gently pulled away from Nil and crouched by the fire to pick up a small package, wrapped in a palm-leaf and bound with twine. Eagerly she returned to Nil’s side and opened the package to reveal a tiny bottle with a rolled-up note from Luka, written by a Carja scribe.

> Aloy, 
> 
> This is from Brin. He told me that the last machine you butchered for him was a Stormbird, and when he drank its blood, he saw the jungle burning and you on the ground, pale and unseeing. When I told Brin you were alive, he cried. He gave me this and said it’s the last of the Stormbird blood you gave him. He wanted you to have it. Brin said that one who changes the future deserves to have a taste of it. Nil: there’s enough left in the bottle for two. 
> 
> I don’t know how you two will react to the machine blood, but I feel like it opens my mind. I can see machine songs and feel colours in the air that I never realized were there. I hope you two have a similar experience. 
> 
> If you decide to partake: enjoy! And be careful! 
> 
> \- Luka

Suntress looked down at the tiny bottle suspiciously. “I don’t want this,” she said slowly… but Nil could see the ever-present curiosity simmering in her eyes. 

He sat leisurely on a boulder beside the fire and watched Suntress consider her options. She bit her lip indecisively as she turned the tiny bottle over in her hands. “Drinking machine blood _really_ can’t be good for you,” she said to Nil. “But Luka’s tried it occasionally and she’s fine… and some of the things Brin told me were strangely accurate. He knew things he just… couldn’t have known.” 

She looked at Nil questioningly, and he gave her a lazy smile, highly amused by the fact that she was even considering drinking it. “It’s up to you, Suntress. I’ll do whatever you do.” 

Suntress turned the tiny bottle over in her palm once more, then decisively wrapped it back in its palm-leaf wrapping. “I’ll hang on to it,” she announced, then smirked at Nil. “We might need it later today.” 

Nil gave a surprised snort of laughter. “You want to drink Stormbird blood before the wedding?”

“Of course not!” Suntress protested, but not as strongly as Nil would have expected. He laughed harder, and she punched him in the arm.

“Are you nervous?” Nil teased as he pulled her down to sit on his lap. 

“No,” she scoffed as she nestled into his arms. “I just… don’t like people staring. Or worshiping.” 

“Just keep your eyes on me,” Nil suggested. “I won’t have eyes for anyone but you.” He smiled charmingly at her.

Suntress smirked. “Not a bad idea. I might just do that,” she murmured, then she tilted her chin back and kissed him sweetly on the lips. Nil cradled her neck tenderly as he savoured the tang of winterfresh on her tongue. 

After a long, lazy embrace and a quick snack of dried figs, they reluctantly struck camp to return to Meridian. _In just a few hours, this charade will be over,_ Nil reminded himself, but with nowhere near the same resentment as before. 

He’d gotten what he wanted: his Suntress, bound to him as his wife. He could handle anything now.

**************

“ _Aloy!_ Fire and spit, girl, where the hell have you been? Vanasha’s going to explode! I had no idea her vocabulary was so, uh, broad. Her swearing might give Teb a heart attack...” 

Nil barely had time to kiss Suntress before Erend dragged her away. At the same moment, a palace messenger appeared at Nil’s side and bowed briskly. “Prince Nil, his Radiance the Sun-King-”

“All right, I’m going,” Nil grunted, and he pushed past the messenger and loped towards the palace. He was pleased to find Luka waiting for him at the bridge, and together they ran to meet Avad. 

“Did you have a nice night?” Luka asked blandly as they ran, and Nil replied in an equally bland tone. “Yes. It was fucking great.” 

Luka grinned, and they slowed to a walk as they entered the palace. Courtiers dressed in gaudy Carja finery were everywhere, and the noise of their incessant chattering was unbelievable. Nil scowled slightly as his appearance caused a hush, then a redoubling of the cacophony of voices. He pushed his way through the crowd in the direction of Avad’s private quarters with just enough restraint to be polite. 

When they finally reached the grand hall where Avad’s royal suite was located, the door opened before the guards at the door could knock and announce their presence. Avad poked his head out, looking almost as anxious as when Helis had attacked the city. “Nil! By the flaming Sun - where in the blazes have you been? Messengers have been trying to find you and Aloy since sunrise!” He impatiently gestured for Nil and Luka to come in. 

Nil stepped into Avad’s suite and immediately sprawled out on the nearest plush velvet-covered couch. “We’re here now. What's the problem? We’ve got hours to spare.” 

Avad took off his crown and rubbed his hair in agitation. “Two hours. _Less_ than two hours. We didn't know if you were coming back!” 

Nil shrugged complacently, but Luka spoke up. “What needs to be done, Your Radiance? How can we help?” 

Avad scowled petulantly at Nil for another second, then finally turned to Luka. “Most everything is in order,” he admitted, then he started to pace. “Nil needs to change, as do I. The palace staff will be leading the guests to the site of the ceremony shortly… Aloy will be getting ready with Vanasha and Teb… Erend will be making sure security measures are in place before joining us at the ceremony… Ligan and Talanah said the Hunter’s Lodge is-”

“Relax,” Nil interrupted. He pulled his golden flask from his pouch and offered it to Avad. “Have a drink.”

Avad stared at him, and for a moment Nil thought Avad was going to punch him. Then suddenly Avad deflated and flopped down beside him on the couch. “How are you so _calm?_ ” he demanded. He took a swig from Nil’s flask, then grimaced. 

Nil shrugged and smirked at Luka, who rubbed her nose and abruptly pretended to be interested in looking around the room. “This is the happiest day of my life,” Nil replied blithely. “What’s to be nervous about?” 

Avad shot him a sharp look as though Nil was being sarcastic, but Nil just smiled complacently as he took the flask back from Avad and offered it to Luka, who grabbed it and took a hasty gulp.

“That’s true,” Avad said, though he continued to eye Nil suspiciously. They sat quietly for a moment and passed Nil’s flask around once more. 

“I’m still surprised you didn’t want to exchange vows with Aloy,” Avad finally said. “It’s… well, usually it’s the most interesting part of the ceremony. And the only genuine part.” 

Nil shrugged again. “She knows how I feel. That’s all that matters.” He smiled to himself, then took the flask back from Luka and drained the dregs before tucking it back into his pouch. 

When he looked up, it was to find Avad eyeing him with a strange combination of wistfulness and… was that fondness? Nil shifted uncomfortably and ran a hand over his hair. “What?” he grunted. 

Avad gave a little shake of his head. “I'm just… happy for you. This is going to be a good day,” he said softly. Then Avad stood from the couch in a businesslike manner and smiled at Luka and Nil. “We should change. We have to be there before Aloy, after all.” 

Obediently Nil stood from the couch, and he and Luka trailed after Avad as they moved further into the luxurious suite. “What are _you_ wearing for this?” Luka asked curiously, as she flicked a glance over Nil’s usual armour. 

“He’s wearing something befitting a Carja prince,” Avad replied over his shoulder, then he turned and shot Nil a stern look. “You agreed.” 

Nil shrugged affably, and Avad looked mollified as he gestured politely for two servants to follow them. Luka leaned in again. “Am I going to laugh at you when I see this outfit?”

Nil shot her a smirk. He honestly didn't care at this point; he was feeling too smug about last night to care. “Laugh all you want,” he retorted, and she snickered. Finally they stepped through one more arched doorway into a huge dressing room. Two clothing stands stood in the middle of the room, hung with the outfits that Avad and Nil would be wearing for the wedding. Avad’s clothing was even more ornate than usual, as was befitting the Sun-King, but Nil’s outfit was actually quite similar to what Avad wore every day, with a few more elaborate touches. 

Luka’s jaw dropped, and to Nil’s surprise, she turned to him with an excited smile. “You’re going to look _wonderful_ ,” she said emphatically. “Like actual royalty, instead of some third-rate hunter.” She threw him a teasing smile. 

Nil smirked and shrugged again, this time with indifference. He’d stopped considering himself to be royalty a long time ago. He’d only agreed to this outfit to make Marad shut the fuck up. Besides, there was only one person’s outfit he was interested in seeing, and hers was custom-made.

**************

It was midday, and the only shade from the Carja sun came from the slight shadow cast by the Spire. The multitude of guests were seated on gilded chairs in the circular paved ring at the centre of the Alight. Nil stood at the base of the Spire with Luka and Avad to his right as his witnesses, and Marad standing to his left. 

Nil had found a good strategy for ignoring the loathsome stares of the crowd: fantasizing about his best kills. He nodded politely to Erend and Vanasha as they made their way up the makeshift aisle to stand as Aloy’s witnesses, and he was halfway through a mental replay of Helis’s death rattle when Luka gave a little gasp. Nil looked up sharply, and his bloodthirsty thoughts fled his mind completely as he laid eyes on Suntress in her wedding gown. 

A huge smile washed across his face. Her outfit was an obvious blend of Nora, Oseram, and Carja styles, and it suited her perfectly. A dark brown, lightly-armoured Oseram leather bustier with a relatively delicate Oseram belt exposed the curved lines of her collarbones. The bustier was adorned with Carja cap sleeves in the style of her light blazon armour, and a sky-blue Carja silk cape, trimmed with Nora fur, was draped loosely around her shoulders. The bustier flowed into a sky-blue wrap skirt made of the same lightweight Nora fabric as Suntress’s favourite scarf. The skirt brushed the ground at the back and was cut high at mid-thigh over her right leg. Gold Carja sandals adorned her feet and she wore no leggings, and Nil thought with surprise that this was probably the first time he’d ever seen her clothed but bare-legged. She was also wearing more jewelry than Nil had ever seen on her: Rost’s charm and Elisabet Sobeck’s blue-and-green pendant hung around her neck, and she was wearing delicate gold macramé armbands that Nil was fairly sure she had borrowed from Vanasha. On her head was a delicately-wrought gold wire diadem in the shape of a Stormbird: a match to the one that Nil currently wore. As a finishing touch, she carried her bow on her back, just like Nil. 

Nil had been half-joking about only having eyes for her today, but now he realized it was true. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from her as she slowly made her way up the aisle towards him. Nil loved seeing her in armour, and obviously he _loved_ seeing her naked, but her current outfit - though still lightly armoured - was so impractical and so _pretty_ that it was a novelty that he couldn’t help but enjoy.

As she drew closer, Nil almost laughed out loud in delight as he noticed a new detail on her face. It was almost bare as usual, but beneath each eye was a tiny line and circle in black: her makeup matched his tattoos. This was so fucking _adorable_ that Nil thought his heart might burst.

A slow smile lit Suntress’s face as her gaze scanned over him, and he wondered whether she was enjoying his ridiculous outfit as much as he liked hers. She bit her lip and lowered her eyes shyly as she drew close to him, then raised her eyes again as she came to stand in front of him. “You look like a Sun-King,” she murmured as he took her hands in his. 

“And _you_ look like a queen of all the tribes combined,” Nil murmured back. Suntress blushed lightly and smiled. “I like your makeup,” he added, and she grinned even wider. “Vanasha has a very steady hand,” she replied cheekily.

Marad cleared his throat quietly and pointedly, and Nil and Suntress smirked at each other as he raised his voice and began the wedding rites. “Assembled guests. We’ve gathered here from near and far to witness the joyful union…” 

Nil tuned out. He’d already heard the wedding rites and vows that mattered. He used the time instead to stare at Suntress, his eyes scanning lovingly over every inch of her. He noticed that she was doing the same, her eyes scanning over his short red silk cape (a match in style to hers, minus the Nora fur), his hammered gold armbands (borrowed from Avad), the gilded metal plates of his vambraces and the decorative armour crossing his chest. 

Eventually Marad cleared his throat again, jarring Nil from his reverie. He turned to look at Suntress, and his gaze was surprisingly warm. “Aloy of the Nora-” 

“Despite the Nora!” Talanah’s bolshy voice drifted from the crowd of guests, and a tiny ripple of laughter came from a few of Aloy’s closer friends at the Lodge. Aloy grinned widely as Marad frowned out at the crowd, then turned back to Suntress. 

“Aloy of the Nora,” he repeated pointedly, “Do you take this man as your legally wedded husband in times of sun and shadow, for as long as you both shall live?” 

“I do,” Suntress announced loudly. 

Then Marad turned to Nil. “Nil of the Carja,” he began. “Do you-” 

“I do,” Nil interrupted, and there was a ripple of laughter throughout the crowd. Suntress laughed as well, and Nil smirked at her, wanting nothing more than to pull her close and kiss her laughing mouth. 

Marad pursed his lips and waited until the crowd had quieted; then, in a rare show of tolerance for Nil’s behaviour, Marad smiled at him. “I believe you have something to give to the bride?” he said mildly. 

Suntress frowned in confusion. “Something for me?” she asked. 

Nil smiled slowly at her and quashed a sudden jolt of nerves as he reached into the pocket of his white silk pants. Nil had never given her a present before, largely because they travelled so much and she was too practical for useless gifts. Nil now hoped he hadn’t misstepped. 

He pulled a small steel box from his pocket and opened it to show Suntress the little project he’d commissioned from Petra on the sly: a pair of matching gold-alloy bangles, almost two centimetres wide but adjustable in diameter, and intricately etched with a geometric-style Stormbird with outspread wings. 

“Nil…” she breathed, and Nil watched her nervously as she stared at the bangles. “Carja royalty exchange bangles when they get married,” he mumbled. “It’s frivolous, I know. And you don’t wear jewelry. But I asked Petra to make them for us. They’re a matched pair. And it’ll fit under all your vambraces. You can squeeze the sides to make it fit tighter-” 

Suddenly she kissed him, cutting off his words and his thoughts, and faintly he heard Marad’s long-suffering voice telling them they’re supposed to put the bangles on _before_ they kiss, but he didn’t care. He pulled her close with a hand on her waist until Marad cleared his throat yet again. 

Suntress leaned away and beamed at him. “You’re right. These are frivolous. But they’re _beautiful_ ,” she murmured. “I love them.” 

Nil’s shoulders relaxed in relief. He gave the box to Marad to hold while he took one bangle and slid it onto her left wrist. Then Suntress took the second bangle and slid it onto Nil’s left wrist just below his vambrace. 

Marad smiled faintly at them both, then raised his voice again to address the crowd. “Now the bride and groom would like to seal their union with a _unique_ ritual of their own.” 

Suntress grinned at Nil as she unshouldered her bow. “Are you able to shoot in that getup?” she teased.

Nil smirked back as Luka handed him a single precision arrow and Vanasha handed one to Aloy. “Are _you_?” Provocatively he slid a glance over her body, and she laughed giddily before notching her arrow. 

Together, Nil and Suntress raised their bows and pointed over the heads of the crowd, to some gasps of surprise. At the end of the aisle, Petra had set up a stand with Aloy’s commission: two interlocking rings about the diameter of a melon, one of flaming-red copper and one of pale grey steel. The rings were mounted on a polished headboard of wood, with a very small space between the two rings where they were linked together. This space was their shared target. 

“Ready?” Nil said.

“Never been more ready,” Suntress retorted, and together they let their arrows fly. Both arrows flew straight and true to hit the target dead-on. 

Many members of the audience cheered, particularly Aloy’s Oseram friends and her Lodge compatriots. Then Marad stepped forward once more and raised his voice to the crowd. “Dearly assembled, I present to you the newly married couple: Aloy of the Nora and Nil of the Carja.” He looked at Nil with one raised eyebrow and a smile. “ _Now_ you can kiss your bride.”

Nil didn’t need telling twice. He pulled Suntress close with an arm around her waist and lifted her clear off her feet, making her laugh with surprise before he kissed her firmly to the roaring and stomping of Oseram cheers and the cheerful sound of Carja whistling and applause. 

Slowly he pulled away and set her back on her feet, and she laughed again, her cheeks turning pink with embarrassment and happiness as the applause raged on. “Well, that's the worst part done,” she yelled to him over the noise. 

Nil tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow, and together they walked down the aisle as the Carja guests threw rice on them. “What are you talking about? There’s an entire party to get through now,” he yelled back. “We have to _socialize_ with all these fucking people.” 

Then he leaned in to speak persuasively into her ear. “You know what we should take to make it more tolerable? The contents of a certain tiny bottle...”

She grinned at him and shook her head in fond exasperation. “You’re unbelievable.”

His raised his eyebrows mischievously. “Well? What do you say? Are you in?” 

She bit her lip and hesitated, and Nil leaned even closer and whispered the word that he knew would sway her. “Come on, Suntress. Aren’t you _curious?_ ”

**********************

A couple of hours later, Aloy and Nil meandered hand-in-hand towards the Hunter’s Lodge for the wedding reception. They’d removed their silk capes and relegated their bows to their suite, and Aloy had finally decided somewhat belligerently to try the Stormbird blood, mostly because Nil’s amusement clearly indicated that he didn’t think she would dare. She’d compromised by only taking a very tiny half-sip of the bottle’s contents, and Nil had done the same.

Even a small amount of the oily black liquid had felt like it was burning her esophagus on the way down, but now, as they swayed towards the Lodge, she felt… relaxed. Almost weightless. 

Aloy turned her head to stare into Nil’s eyes as they approached the Lodge. Why had she never noticed before that his eyes were both blue and grey at the same time? They contained both the ocean _and_ the clouds. Rivers flowing into the sky in a seamless ribbon. He really _was_ everything. 

“How do you feel?” she asked dreamily. Nil smiled slowly down at her. “The music is nice,” he replied lazily. “I didn’t realize how nice music could be. It’s like a heartbeat. I think it’s _making_ my heart beat.”

“Yes,” Aloy agreed emphatically. He was absolutely right. The music emanating from the Lodge felt like it was thrumming inside her chest. Maybe it had been playing inside of her this whole time. 

“Let’s go in,” she said eagerly. “We can get closer to the music.” Together they ran up the steps. 

The volume of the music and the sound of cheerful voices increased exponentially as they pushed open the door. Aloy blinked slowly at the onslaught of harmonious noise and brilliant light and breathtaking _colours_ inside the Lodge. 

“Aloy!” Erend’s loud voice called her name, and suddenly the noise in the Lodge trebled as everyone began cheering and clapping. Aloy grinned at Nil, who smiled back down at her with his river-and-sky eyes. She wondered if he realized that everyone here was part of one big, interconnected organism. Like parts of a single machine. Like parts of a Cauldron! 

She opened her mouth to ask him, but Erend suddenly flung his arms around her and Nil and tugged them into the center of the room. “The bride and groom are here! Now we can really celebrate!” he roared, and a fresh roar of approval rose from the crowded room. 

She hugged Erend fondly. “You’ve got the ocean in your eyes,” she told him seriously. “Nil has both oceans _and_ clouds in his. You two should be better friends.” 

Erend stared at her, then peered closely at her eyes. Maybe he was seeing a deeper truth in her eyes as well! 

“Aloy,” he said slowly, “are you high?” Erend looked sharply at Nil, who was smiling benignly beside her, and his eyes widened until they were huge bowls of blue. “Are both of you guys _high?_ ” 

“No,” Aloy said calmly. “We’re enjoying an occult Banuk ritual. It’s the final part of our elopement.” 

“Elope…?” Erend sputtered in dismay, and his face turned a delicate shade of red. Aloy gazed at him with interest. She had never realized before how beautiful skin could be. It was so many different colours, featured on so many people. Skin was another thing that tied all of these people together. 

Aloy turned to Nil and stroked his face. “I love your skin,” she told him seriously. “It’s the thing that unites everyone. It makes us all stronger. We need to remember that if any other renegade subfunctions try to kill us.” 

“Really?” Nil said in surprise. “I thought that skin was the thing that made us weaker. It splits open so easily. You know what _really_ ties us together? Blood. Everyone’s blood runs red.” Suddenly he slid his hands into her hair and cupped the back of her head tenderly, and Aloy swayed towards him blissfully as he spoke again. “I _love_ red. I love your hair,” he growled, and then he was kissing her, kissing her like a starving man, and Aloy couldn’t think. 

The backs of her eyelids contained the stars. She was drifting through them, drifting towards the moon even as Nil held her on the ground with the heat of his palms, and- 

“Luka!” Erend exclaimed, and Aloy jumped away from Nil in startlement at the sound of his voice. She’d forgotten Erend was there. Suddenly Luka was standing beside them. 

“They’re both _high_ ,” Erend hissed at Luka, and Aloy frowned at his rude tone. He glanced at her, then hastily amended, “They’re enjoying an… occult Banuk ritual,” he whispered loudly. “Aloy said something about an _elopement?_ Do you know anything about this?”

Luka looked sharply at them, and Aloy smiled beatifically at her. “Luka, _your_ eyes contain all the wisdom of the world. They’re so deep that even the light falls into them. I need to learn everything you can teach me.” Aloy’s eyes widened as something marvelous just occurred to her. “Do you know how I can fix GAIA?” she gasped. 

Luka’s sloe-black eyes darted between her and Nil, and suddenly she was laughing. Aloy frowned at her and then at Nil, who also looked confused. Why was Luka laughing? It was a very serious question. 

Then suddenly Aloy was distracted again by Nil’s face. He was just so damn beautiful, she couldn't look away. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re _everything,_ ” she said. “Everything good in the world is in you. And everything terrible. But it’s all balanced. A perfect balance in the perfect man.” 

Nil wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his lips to her ear. “I’m nothing compared to you,” he replied. “I’m a shadow. I’m _your_ shadow. Everywhere you go, I’ll be there. Even if I’m not there. That’s where I’ll be.” 

He was so bloody smart, Aloy couldn’t bear it. “Kiss me,” she demanded, and Nil obeyed, and suddenly she was floating again, floating through the white-hot beauty of the stars. If the Carja had followed the stars to get to Meridian, could Aloy follow the stars to get across oceans? It was possible, wasn’t it?

Suddenly Erend’s hand was pulling on her arm, and she was being dragged away from Nil against her will. “Oh sweet winter,” Luka said. “You take her, and I’ll take Nil until the effects wear off.” 

“Come on, Aloy, we’re gonna dance,” Erend said gruffly, and Aloy pouted slightly as she watched Luka pull Nil away towards the bar. 

“I don’t know how to dance,” Aloy protested. “But I think Luka could teach me. Her eyes know everything.” 

“Trust me, you can dance. Probably better now than if you weren’t… occulting,” Erend said, and Aloy was pleased to hear that he sounded like he was in a better mood. He smiled ruefully at her as he pulled her into a crowd of Oseram. 

Another huge cheer went up as Aloy appeared among them, and she gasped in delight as she recognized Petra, Gera and Kendert. She hugged them, wondering if her arms were wide enough to embrace them all together. Maybe her arms were wide enough to embrace the whole Embrace. She could heal the Nora with the reach of her arms. 

“Aloy!” Petra exclaimed. “What’s the matter with you? You’re not usually a hugger.” 

“Don’t draw attention to it,” Erend said succinctly. At that moment, the music suddenly changed from the cheerful, gentle familiarity of a Carja trio to a deep, thrumming beat complete with a strange, deep instrument that sounded like a flute, but deeper. This music was… amazing. Thrilling. _Electrifying_. 

“I love this music,” she yelled at her friends, and Gera guffawed a laugh. “Of course you do, little spark! This is Oseram music!” She punched Kendert in the arm and yelled, “Dance with me, you lunk!” Moments later, Gera and Kendert were galloping around the room in a lively but surprisingly graceful whirling dance. 

Aloy gaped at them in amazement, and her eyes widened further as she watched more of the Oseram and many of the Carja join Gera and Kendert in their magnificent, joyful dancing. Aloy couldn’t believe her eyes. Even at the Nora festival during the Proving, she hadn’t seen dancing like this. She wanted to try it!

“Aloy, let’s dance!” Erend yelled, and she beamed at him. Could he read her mind? He was almost as smart as Nil. Happily she took his outstretched hand. 

Dancing was _wonderful_. And effortless. The room was already spinning, so Aloy barely had to do anything except follow Erend’s steps. While she danced with Erend, she watched some of the other dancing couples, primarily Carja, spinning and twirling elaborately. What they were doing looked like so much fun.

“Let’s try that!” she yelled at Erend, and he laughed incredulously. “I can’t do that. I don't know how!”

Aloy _tsk_ ed at him in annoyance, then she caught sight of Avad, who was chatting with Ligan and Talanah by the stairs. “Avad!” she yelled, and waved wildly to him. 

“Aloy, wait!” Erend hissed, and tried to grab her hand, but Aloy was too quick for him. She darted through the crowd until she was at Avad’s side. 

“Aloy!” Avad said, and his smile grew into a grin as Aloy leaned on Talanah’s shoulder and tried to catch her breath. “You look like you’re enjoying yourself.” 

“Yes, absolutely, but I need you to come dance with me,” Aloy said urgently. “Erend is too slow.”

Erend tramped over and stepped between Aloy and Avad. “Don’t worry, Your Radiance,” he said hastily to Avad. “Aloy could probably use a break anyway.”

“That’s nonsense! I can look after myself, Erend,” she snapped, and Erend drew back in surprise from the suddenly sober tone of her voice. Then Aloy spun swiftly and grabbed an appetizer from a passing tray and popped it in her mouth. She turned to Ligan with her mouth full. “This is delicious, by the way,” she mumbled, then she ducked behind Erend and grabbed Avad’s hand to drag him to the dance floor. 

The joyful, drum-heavy Oseram music continued to fill the building. If Aloy looked up at the geometric designs carved into the wooden beams and decorating the drapings in the Lodge, she could swear they were pulsing in triangular fractals that looked just like the patterns in the Cauldrons. Everything really _was_ connected. 

“You’re lucky that Ersa taught me a few things,” Avad shouted to her, pulling her back from her thoughts. Aloy grinned at him. “Let’s see what you remember, Your Radiance!” she yelled, and Avad smiled that boyish grin that made him look so much younger. Soon Aloy was twirling and spinning just like the other dancers, and Avad was laughing at her enthusiasm. 

Eventually Erend reappeared, and Aloy deigned to dance with him again even though he was like a Trampler compared to Avad’s Strider-quick steps. The music shifted multiple times from heatbeat-heavy Oseram tunes to quick and lively Carja quicksteps, and Aloy danced to them all, pulling all of her friends into the dance: Varl and Talanah and Teb, Nakoa and a very reluctant Janeva, even Elida and her father all the way from Brightmarket. 

As Aloy stopped briefly to take a breathless break from the dance, she watched with utter contentment as her friends all danced and laughed together. Everyone in the world was in this room right now. And Aloy loved the whole world. So by extension, she loved everyone. She was just like Elisabet. 

She scanned the room happily, and her eyes finally found the one she loved the most. He was smiling and talking to Luka, but when Aloy’s gaze rested on him, he suddenly looked up at her as though he sensed her eyes on him. _That’s how closely connected we are,_ she thought with delirious happiness. _He knows the touch of my gaze._ Suddenly Nil’s steel-grey eyes were burning with heat, and Aloy’s skin was burning with the need to be close to him. She stood from her stool and took one step towards him. 

“Come on, flame-hair, join us for another spin!” Petra yelled, and Aloy was pulled back into the ocean of dancers once more. 

**************

Nil reluctantly allowed Luka to drag him away from Suntress, then folded his arms and leaned back against the bar. “You’re cockblocking me,” he yelled over the music and clamouring voices. 

“It’s for everyone’s benefit, I promise you,” she yelled back.

“But it’s my wedding,” Nil argued.

Luka shook her head and grinned at him. “Technically it’s not, remember?” 

Nil rolled his eyes. “Fine. Entertain me. Killed anyone lately that you’d like to talk about?” 

Luka shook her head again in amusement. “Why don’t _you_ tell me what you’re seeing? What’s going on in your head right now?”

Nil shot her a sharp look. “I didn’t ask you for fucking lessons in the shamanic arts,” he said scathingly, but Luka simply smiled at him enigmatically with her head tilted to one side. 

Nil sighed in heavy annoyance, then looked at Suntress longingly. She hugged her Oseram cronies enthusiastically, then took Erend’s outstretched hand as he pulled her into a dance. 

She was a natural dancer. Not surprising, since she was a natural at almost everything. The waves of her flaming hair were flying as she whirled around the floor with Erend. Were her tresses made of flames, or were they waves? Nil couldn’t tell anymore. Every element seemed to combine and meet in his Suntress’s lithe form. Fire was in her hair and in the sharpness of her tongue. Water was in her smoothly twisting curves and her endless compassion. Soil was in her freckled skin and her down-to-earth nature. Wind was in the lightning-quick movements of her feet and in her boisterous laugh. 

“I see the world,” Nil said suddenly. “Bursting from her skin. Trying to break free. She wants to change it, free it from the shell of mystery that obscures it. But something’s missing. It’s a futile quest until the answers are found.” 

Then Nil turned to the bar. “Give me some Scrappersap,” he shouted to the bartender. 

Suddenly Luka’s hand was on his arm. He looked down at her and was surprised to find her staring at him intensely. “Nil. What were you talking about?” she asked.

Nil gave her a strange look. “I just want a drink,” he said, and nodded to the bartender as a tumbler of Scrappersap was handed to him. 

Luka grabbed the tumbler from his hand and continued to stare at him. “You shouldn’t drink while you’re on the blood. What were you talking about just now?”

“What are _you_ talking about?” Nil yelled back at her in annoyance. Then he tilted his head to the side as he peered at her face. “Suntress is right. Your eyes are completely black. They’re like a starless night. What kinds of secrets are you hiding in there?” 

Luka deflated slightly and placed his tumbler on the bar, and promptly Nil picked it up and gulped its contents. His eyes drifted back to the dance floor again, and his lips curled in a smirk at the sight of Avad dancing with Suntress. He had to admit, Avad was a better match than Erend for Suntress’s agility. She was twirling and spinning wildly under Avad’s skillful guidance, her face alight with laughter, and Nil couldn’t help but enjoy the sight. 

“Wild waves. And wild patterns. That’s what I see,” Nil said absently as he watched Suntress spinning. “Patterns and lights. She spins the lights, manipulates them. She sees patterns in the lights that others don’t. But still, something is missing. It’s beyond her grasp. If she’s too late, it will be lost forever.” 

Then Nil sighed with ennui. “I’m hungry. Is there no food at this party?” 

Luka stared at him until he started to feel uncomfortable. He turned away from her and waved imperiously to a Lodge servant holding a tray, who immediately hurried over to him. Nil took a small pastry shell filled with meat and popped the whole thing in his mouth, then took two more and offered one to Luka. “Eat,” he told her. 

Silently she took the snack and continued to stare at Nil. “You could be a shaman,” she blurted. 

Nil swallowed his food and grinned at her. “Don’t be fucking ridiculous. Eat something, Luka. You look like a trout out of water.” Then he turned his head and met Suntress’s gaze. 

She was staring at him from across the room. Her eyes were the colour of new spring grass. No, they were the colour of sunrise. Now they were leaf-green and maize-gold at the same time. How had he never realized before how quixotic, how mercurial her eyes were? He pushed away from the bar to reach her, to try and plumb the depths of those deep and changing eyes, but suddenly she was gone, pulled back into the seething crowd of dancers. 

Nil turned to Luka. “Am I allowed to go be with my _wife_ yet? How long has it been?” 

Luka finally smiled. “It’s been less than an hour!” she retorted. “The blood is still strong in you.” Then she tilted her head to the side mockingly. “Is my company really that repulsive?” 

“I suppose not,” Nil replied magnanimously. After all, Luka was the only other person in this room aside from Suntress that he could tolerate for more than an hour at a time. “But I’m married now. I want to go be married. I have rights.” He tilted his head quizzically at Luka. “I do have rights, don’t I? I wasn’t listening to Marad.”

Luka laughed, and Nil ordered another drink as he waited patiently for her to stop laughing at him. “All right, all right, _go_ ,” she chuckled. “But don’t blame me if the Sun-King yells at you for being, umm, _altered_ at your own reception.” 

Nil straightened with relief. Finally he could be near his bride. He pushed away from the bar without saying farewell to Luka, forgetting completely about the drink he'd just ordered. As he pushed his way through the crowd, the music shifted from a driving Oseram tune into a slow and romantic Carja ballad. 

Suddenly she was there in front of him, her hand still on Erend’s shoulder from the last dance, and the smile she gave him was the most brilliant thing Nil had ever seen. She was like the sun, scorching him with her beauty, almost blinding him with her unknowable depths. Nil ignored Erend and extended a hand to his sun queen. “Dance with me.” 

She smiled even more brightly, then gave Erend a quick kiss on the cheek before taking Nil’s hand. Nil gracefully twirled her before pulling her into a perfect dancer’s hold and swaying her slowly to the Carja ballad that was floating through the air. 

Her eyes widened, and Nil marvelled at the brilliant shifting waves of green and gold in her irises. He was so hypnotized by her eyes that he almost missed her words. “I didn't know you could dance!” she said. 

He pulled her closer with the hand on her back and lowered his lips to her ear. “I grew up in the palace, remember?” he murmured softly. “I was forced to learn a lot of things. But this is the first time I've been glad for it.” 

“I'm glad too. This is really nice,” she whispered back. Her cheek brushed against his, hot from her exertions on the dance floor, and Nil marvelled yet again at how soft her skin was. 

“It's better than nice. It's… divine,” he mumbled. He didn't believe in gods or monsters, but if ever a moment could be blessed by the Sun, it would be this one, where the silk of her skin was _his_ to touch, the rippling jewel tones of her eyes and hair were _his_ to enjoy. 

A slow simmering of desire began to build beneath his skin as Suntress’s thigh brushed against his. There was something about the fact that she was fully clothed, and yet her legs were bare, that was _incredibly_ appealing. Nil’s eyes slid languorously down to her creamy collarbones and the gentle swell of her breasts at the upper edge of her bustier. He wondered whether she'd designed this outfit with the intention of making him want to tear it off. He brushed his lips against her ear again. “Are you trying to seduce me?” he whispered.

“I’m not doing anything,” Suntress protested, but at his words, he felt her back arch slowly towards him beneath his palm until she was pressed against him from chest to thigh. 

“You don’t have to do anything,” Nil replied. He released her hand and delicately pushed back a lock of hair that had fallen over her shoulder. “Your existence is seductive. This damn dress is seductive.” 

“What about _you?_ ” she murmured, and her hands were tracing over his ribs, her thumbs slipping beneath the edges of the ornamental armour crossing his chest. Then the heels of her hands were sliding down, along his abdomen, towards his ornate woven waistband. “Walking around half-naked all the time. Your entire chest on show. It's so impractical…” 

When had her lips arrived at his neck? Nil couldn’t remember. He couldn’t think. Heat and life were blooming across the lines that her hands traced over his body and the trail that her tongue traced along the tendon in his neck. He was vaguely aware that what he and Suntress were doing could barely be called dancing anymore, aside from their slow circular movements across the dance floor. 

He took her jaw in a gentle grip and tipped her chin up until her lips were a breath away from his. “Let’s go to the roof,” he purred. 

“What’s on the roof?” she asked immediately, and Nil couldn’t help but grin. Even now, when her mind was blown as wide as his and her body was clearly screaming _sex_ , she was still asking her never-ending questions. 

“Nothing and nobody,” Nil whispered, with heavy implication. “No one goes on the roofs in Meridian. No one except me.” 

She smiled slowly at him, and her hazel eyes glinted with a familiar spark of competition that sent a jolt of affection ripping through his belly. “That’s a challenge if ever I heard one,” she replied in a low, teasing voice. She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the stairs as the music kicked up again into a lively Oseram jig. 

Suntress darted through the jumping, swirling crowd carefully and quickly, reminding Nil forcibly of her stealthy sneaking through the long grass at a bandit camp. This reminder only served to amplify the eager hardness between his legs as he followed her helplessly up the stairs to the second level of the Lodge, then out onto the balcony where a memorial altar stood. 

Suntress released his hand and immediately grabbed a slightly jutting brick in the wall to begin scaling the wall with all the confidence she had when she was fully armoured. But she was most certainly _not_ fully armoured now - a fact that was highlighted in all its glory when she lifted her right leg to boost herself up the wall. The thigh-high slit in her wrap skirt slid apart like a curtain to reveal her bare leg from ankle to thigh, and Nil’s entire brain when blank with lust. He could only stare as she launched herself up the wall and over the parapet with the same agility and grace she had when they were travelling the wilds. 

“Are you coming?” she called from the roof. Her voice was an irresistible drug, more intoxicating than the machine blood dancing through his veins, and he followed her up the wall without another second’s hesitation. She was waiting for him with her arms folded and her chin tilted up smugly. 

“You just scaled a wall in your wedding dress,” he said dumbly as he stood to face her, and she grinned. “Of course I did,” she retorted. “Unlike you, I’m always practical in my clothing choices. Even my wedding clothes.” She sassily shifted her weight to her right hip, and the part in her skirt slid open again to reveal the creamy golden length of her thigh. 

Nil’s blood roared with desire, and he took a predatory step towards her. “I can see another reason that your outfit is practical,” he said matter-of-factly. 

“Yeah? What’s that?” she challenged, then she laughed in surprise as Nil lifted her up abruptly with one arm around her waist and carried her over to the edge of the roof, then set her down in a sitting position on the waist-height parapet. 

Nil stepped between her knees and reverently slid his hands up her thighs, parting the smooth material of her skirt and revealing her simple silk underclothes. “Easy access,” he replied, with a cocky little smile. 

She smiled slowly at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, and Nil marvelled again at how her eyes were the same precise shade of gold as the moon in this moment. Gently he swept his thumbs along the silk-smooth skin right near the juncture of her thighs, and her cheeky smile was transformed into the most beautiful mask of lust as she craned the column of her neck back and jerked her hips towards him. 

“Tell me if you get worried about the height,” Nil whispered to her. She was sitting at the very edge of the roof, after all. Then he smoothed his thumb over the sweet, hot spot right between her legs. 

Suntress gasped, and her arms tightened further around his neck. “I’m not scared,” she breathed, and her face was guileless, filled with trust. “You won’t let me fall.” 

A wave of tenderness throbbed through his raging lust, and he cupped her neck in his left hand to kiss her. As his tongue delved gently into her mouth, he deftly pushed the crotch of her underclothes to the side and smoothed his fingers over her beckoning wetness, then slipped one finger inside of her and stroked in a come-hither motion.

The moan that rolled out of her throat shivered straight through Nil’s body from his scalp clear down to his toes. The sound of her pleasure was so visceral he could practically feel it on his skin, like the softest fox-fur blanket. Eagerly he stroked his fingers inside of her until she was bucking her hips against his hand, then he rolled the pad of his thumb around her clit with a firm pressure. 

Suntress’s gasps were coming short and fast, and for once, Nil didn’t try to torture her by dragging out her pleasure. In this moment, he craved her orgasm as much as he craved his own. He wanted to taste the sound of her climax. Somehow he was certain that her cry of pleasure would have a unique flavour.

Carefully he slid two fingers inside of her again and used his thumb to lightly stroke her clit with every thrust of his fingers. Suddenly her thighs tensed and her nails dug into his shoulder blades, and Nil swiftly covered her mouth with his as she gasped and cried out in bliss. 

He was right: her ecstatic voice tasted like life itself. Everything that bloomed and crawled and swam across the known world, from the east to the west, it was all alive in her voice: the sinuous patter of animal feet and the clanking of metal limbs, it was all here in her pleasure cries. 

Suddenly Nil wanted to be part of it. He wanted to see all of that colour and all of that possibility through her eyes. He broke their kiss and pressed his mouth to her ear. “I want to crawl inside of you. I want to see what you see,” he groaned. 

“Come on then. Come inside,” she panted, and she lowered one hand to tug at the embroidered waistband of his silk trousers. But it was abundantly clear that Suntress’s ability to free Nil from his pants was not compatible with her continued precarious seat on the parapet. Swiftly she slid to her feet, and Nil hastily freed his straining erection from his trousers while Suntress quickly tugged off her underclothes. 

Nil snatched her underclothes from her hand and stuffed them into his pocket, then lifted her up onto the parapet again. He took one brief, glorious second to admire her perfect pussy, slick with her desire and framed by the blue fabric of her skirt, then he slid into her with a groan of pure bliss. 

There was no lingering this time, no slow buildup. Suntress used his shoulders for leverage as she jerked her hips forcefully towards his cock, and Nil gripped her hips firmly as he thrust into her into a fast, wild rhythm. With every thrust, his understanding surged higher. She was lifting him with her passion and her heat, lifting him across mountains, into the Bloodlands and Ban-Ur and the Forbidden West. He could see almost everything. He could hear everything: his own sharp breaths, her thundering heartbeat as it pulsed in her throat. Desperately he took her lips in a kiss, and her tongue in his mouth felt like she was overriding his brain, spinning the wheels of coloured light within his mind to make him something else. 

Suddenly his climax burst over him, shedding new stars that wavered behind his eyes before disappearing into the night sky. Nil broke from her intoxicating lips and rested his forehead in the crook of her neck as he fought for breath. 

Her arms were wrapped around his neck again as she gasped for air as well. “I… feel like I could fly,” she panted. “We don’t need a Stormbird after all.” 

Nil gasped out a breathless laugh, then slowly he lifted his head and smoothed back a sweaty strand of hair from her face. “You might change your mind tomorrow,” he replied. 

She smiled, looking both supremely satisfied and exhausted; then, by wordless agreement, they disentangled from their passionate embrace. Nil handed back her underclothes with a smirk, and she slipped them back on without a trace of embarrassment, then shot him a little half-smile. “Ready to rejoin the party?” she asked. 

Nil shrugged lightly. “I suppose,” he said amiably. “Will you dance with me again?”

She grinned and stroked her fingers along the line of his jaw. “I’ll dance with you forever. But you’ll have to catch me first!” She darted over to the edge of the roof, then clambered down the wall with the same agility that she’d scaled it. 

_I’m surprised she doesn’t have a rappel in that damn dress,_ Nil thought with high amusement as he followed her back down to the balcony. She grinned mischievously at him as she darted back into the second level of the Lodge, and Nil shook his head with amusement as he followed her back inside.

He recoiled with shock as a huge roar of cheering and applause suddenly broke out in response to their appearance. Then Talanah’s loud, confident voice called out from the bottom level of the Lodge. “Assembled guests, I present to you: the bride and groom, looking slightly dishevelled for some reason that’s probably entirely innocent!” 

A huge wave of laughter and whistling greeted her pronouncement. Suntress’s face turned pomegranate-pink as she dissolved into laughter, and she covered her face with her hands.

But Nil was beyond embarrassment. He was far too pleased with himself to be embarrassed. “Come here,” he growled at Suntress. He pulled her towards him and swept her in a dramatic dancer’s dip before kissing her passionately. 

A deafening roar of approval and stomping and whistling filled the Lodge. For the first time in Nil’s life, a roomful of people was _happy_ for him, cheering for him. And Nil didn’t care. All he cared about was that the woman he adored was kissing him back as though her life depended on it. Then Suntress was beaming at him with love blazing in her eyes, proud to be seen with him and to be tied to him forever.

In this moment, this perfect, shining moment with this woman in his arms, Nil had everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So: this chapter. I… don’t know what to say? *clueless shrug*
> 
> The Stormbird blood was just a little seed of an idea, but then it grew into this. There might be a plot bunny there with Nil’s visions, and that came out of nowhere, but I don’t know if I’m going to do anything with it. My descriptions of Aloy and Nil tripping might also be totally inaccurate because I’ve never tried drugs and I had to research what it was like using Dr. Google (thanks Reddit! lol). Finally, I was REALLY worried that having Aloy drink machine blood would be completely out of character for her. But given her playfulness with Nil and her incessant curiosity, I just ran with it…
> 
> Seriously, I’m interested to know what you guys think. This entire fic has really been an exercise in self-indulgent fluff/mild angst, and it does _not_ have to be (head)cannon for my Niloy; it can just be… a fluffy sidepiece. I’d love to hear your thoughts. 
> 
> Anyway, this fic is almost done; just the epilogue left!


	8. Jump

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aloy wakes Nil on the morning after the wedding for one last celebratory moment before getting back to their regular lives.

**Very, very early morning after the wedding…**

“Nil. Nil! Wake up!”

Nil’s eyes snapped open as Suntress shook his arm enthusiastically. “What?” he slurred. He glanced over at the balcony; it was still pitch black outside. He didn’t think he’d been asleep for more than a couple of hours. 

Suntress shook his shoulder again. “Let’s go for a ride,” she said brightly. 

Nil closed his eyes again, then heaved a huge sigh and nestled his face into the pillow. “I can’t move. There’s a huntress on top of me,” he mumbled. This much was true; he was lying on his stomach, and Suntress was sitting on top of him. Her heat and weight were more comforting than a blanket. 

She leaned over so her chest was flush to his back, and Nil smiled at the feeling of her breasts pressing against his back. “Come on, get up! I want to go somewhere,” she hissed. 

“Where?” Nil asked the pillow. He’d never really given much thought to pillows, but at this moment, he was really enjoying this one. 

“Somewhere special. Somewhere we can see the sunrise,” she whispered, and Nil cracked one eye open at the softness in her voice. In the dim light, he could see the tender curve of her smile.

A wave of affection lapped at his heart, and finally he lifted himself up onto his elbows. “All right. Let’s go,” he yawned, and Suntress smiled widely before sliding off of him and rifling around in the chest where they kept their clothes. 

She was fully dressed in her usual Carja light armour before Nil had even risen from the bed. Slowly he shuffled over to the chest and dragged on his clothes while she waited impatiently by the door. 

The brisk night air slapped him awake as they jogged silently through the market, then rappelled over the edge of the balustrade near the Great Elevator. They slipped into the jungle like two silent shadows. Suntress swiftly overrode two Striders, and soon they were riding southwest. 

They reached their waterfall just as the grey-green haze of night was starting to transition into dawn. Suntress didn’t even bother to stop her Strider before leaping off of its back. “Come on!” she urged him, and without waiting for his response, she dove into the water and swam smoothly towards the waterfall. 

Nil dove in after her, then caught her eye as she reached for a handhold on the side of the waterfall. “I’ll race you!” he yelled over the crashing tumble of water; then he vaulted onto the nearest handhold and began scaling the side of the waterfall as fast as he could.

Even so, he only just managed to reach the top of the waterfall at the exact same time as her. She leaned her weight on her knees as she doubled over with laughter and exertion. 

“You’re slipping,” Nil teased, and he tugged one of her braids teasingly. She laughed breathlessly and swatted his hand away. “It was a tie! And it’s only because I didn’t sleep. That Stormbird blood made you snore,” she taunted. 

Nil smirked. “Excuses, Suntress? You can admit defeat this once, you know. I won’t hold it against you.” 

She splashed him, and he ducked away with a snort of laughter. “It’s not defeat if it was a tie!” she insisted with a grin. “Now shut up and get over here, the sun’s coming up.” 

Amiably Nil waded back over to her side, then wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and pulled her close. She rested her arms over his, their fingers laced together comfortably as they faced towards the east. 

Even Nil could admit that this sunrise was a spectacular one. The sun was like a glowing mandarin orange, its edges rippling hazily at the horizon and dyeing the undersides of the clouds with deep pink before lifting majestically into the sky. The cotton-white haze of condensation over the jungle canopy lent the view an ethereal, almost unreal look, like they were standing at the edge of a dream. 

Finally Suntress turned in his arms to face him. “So. The wedding’s over. We’re free,” she said with a grin. “What should we do next?”

Nil admired her bright, eager face as he replied. “You still need parts for your device. We could go to GAIA Prime.” 

Suntress tilted her head to the side. “Jorgriz mentioned that they chased some bandits away from Free Heap and towards Daytower. We could go hunting.” 

They smiled at each other for a moment, and the swift flow of water around their shins matched the rushing feeling of euphoric adoration in Nil’s belly. The air was rife with possibility. There were mysteries aplenty for Suntress, bandits aplenty for Nil, and an entire world that still needed to be uncovered. 

At that moment, a distant shadow in the sky caught Nil’s attention, and he looked up. Suntress’s eyes followed his gaze, and together they beheld the magnificent, graceful circling of a huge metal bird, its chest crackling with caged lightning.

Nil looked back down at her to find her green-and-gold eyes glittering with anticipation. “Let’s catch a Stormbird,” she said excitedly, and Nil knew she was remembering his suggestion to try and ride one. 

He gazed into her eyes as he smoothed one of her braids behind her ear. “I already have,” he told her. 

The smile that broke across her face was far more beautiful than the sunrise they’d just witnessed. Slowly she curved her hand around his neck and lifted her chin to kiss him. Nil’s breath - and his heart - were stolen by the slow, tender whisper of her lips over his and the delicate slide of her tongue in his mouth. 

After a long moment, but not nearly long enough for Nil, Suntress pulled away from their kiss. Then she slid her fingers into his and nodded her head towards the edge of the waterfall. She grinned up at him, her eyes sparking with joyful challenge. “You ready?”

Nil peered over the edge of the waterfall. He and Suntress had jumped off this ledge together so many times that Nil had lost count, but he never got accustomed to the heady rush. This leap of blind faith was familiar now, yet it would always contain an element of uncertainty; it was risky but exciting, holding possibilities of both danger and delight. 

Nil squeezed her fingers, and he could feel cool press of her new Stormbird bangle against his wrist: the press of a promise. 

Was he ready to jump? 

Nil gave his Suntress a slow, feral smile. “Always,” he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cold, cold water  
> Bring me ‘round  
> Now my feet won't touch the ground  
> Cold, cold water  
> What d’you say?  
> It’s such, it's such a perfect day
> 
> I remember  
> We were walking up to strawberry swing  
> I can't wait until the morning  
> Wouldn't wanna change a thing
> 
> People moving all the time  
> Inside a perfectly straight line  
> Don't you wanna curve away  
> It's such, it's such a perfect day
> 
>  
> 
> [”Strawberry Swing,” by Coldplay](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3pJZSTQqIg)  
> 
> 
> *******************
> 
> Readers who have followed along thus far: 
> 
> THANK YOU. 
> 
> Seriously. It means a lot to me to have a little Niloy fam to validate my obsession with our bandit-killing videogame husband… XD
> 
> Unfortunately, I don’t have any more Niloy longfic ideas right now. I’ll have to wait for the DLC and see what kind of Niloy thing I can pull out of that. But I do have a few oneshots lined up in my head, and if anyone is interested in reading those once I post them, I will be honoured!
> 
> Also, in case anyone wants to talk Niloy, or headcannon, or just generally fangirl about HZD with me, [I’m on Tumblr.](https://pikapeppa.tumblr.com/) I post fic excerpts/ficlets, and many screenies of Nil and Aloy... so… er. Did I mention obsessed? 
> 
> Feel free to message me or “ask” stuff on Tumblr (I’m also a Tumblr noob so plz be patient with me lol…). And *wave* to those of you who have already reached out! xo


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